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ORLANDO, Fla. - An Orange County middle school teacher has been fired after a student said he threw a pair of scissors in class, striking her in the face. The girl said her eighth-grade science teacher at Westridge Middle School in Orlando was upset at another student and threw the scissors across the room. She said the scissors ricocheted off a whiteboard and hit her in the face, leaving her with scratches. The girl said she reported the incident to a counselor the day it happened, but her mother said she learned about the incident from her daughter's Snapchat messages, not the school. "The teacher was cursing. He kept saying a couple words. He was angry. I guess the (other) kid kept doing the same thing and wouldn't listen, so he took the scissors away from the kid and tossed them and they hit her," said the girl's mother, Jayme Olivera. "We teach (children not to) run with scissors. Why are you throwing scissors in class?" School officials confirmed to News 6 that the teacher has been fired, but Olivera said the discipline only occurred after she intervened. "They really didn't say much. I feel like they really didn't make it a thing," Olivera said. " We guard our children. We take care of our children, and if it had of been the other way around, if (my daughter) had thrown the scissors, I'm sure I would have gotten a phone call. She would have been suspended, she would have been expelled. She wouldn't have been able to go back to the school." News 6 is not naming the teacher because he has not been charged with a crime.

While 65 inch is fast becoming the defacto size for large screen TV's for those that require just a little bigger, LG's OLED series can help fill that demand... But only if you've got the budget to spare. According to The Verge, LG have now released their top-end Signature series 77" inch to the U.S. market for a grand total of $20K which not only gets you a huge display, but cutting edge features such as an insane black level, HDR, Dolby Vision and 4K to boot. The cash also gets you access to LG's "24/7 VIP service" tech support, as well as a bonus LG G Pad tablet. So all in all, you can't afford to not get one!

A 6 partner firm of Accountants in Bury are currently recruiting for an experienced Tax Senior to join their team as a result of the growth of their client portfolio. There is an opportunity for progression to Director level within the firm. They offer a genuinely trusting environment and operate a flexible working policy with the option to accrue hours for extra annual leave, free parking in a great location and lots of other great benefits. The firm operate an ethos whereby their employee’s happiness is of paramount importance and have won awards for their investment in their employees. * Working closely alongside the tax partners. * Managing a mixed portfolio of clients. * The role will be a mix of compliance and advisory work. * Aiding the managers in developing junior employees’ talent through supervision, delegation and technical support. * Building professional relationships with clients. You must be either part of fully ACA/ACCA/ATT/CTA qualified and have a relevant public practice background geared towards Tax. Ongoing professional development will be provided for progression and benefits are commensurate with a top flight firm such as they are.

This hilltop beauty is ready for its new owners. This home boasts a 4 BEDROOM, 3 BATH FLOORPLAN, including HOME OFFICE and BONUS. The engineered HARDWOOD FLOORS flow throughout the downstairs, finding their way to the 18’ TILE in the kitchen. The kitchen has upgraded features to include WHITE PAINTED CABINETS, BACKSPLASH, GRANITE COUNTERTOPS and STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES. The WOOD BURNING FIRPLACE, is the focal part of the living area and creates a cozy feel. Upstairs the airy bonus room overlooks the CATWALK, with its wood trim and WROUGHT IRON BANISTER. The MASTER SUITE has tray ceiling, SITTING ROOM, OVERSIZED CLOSET, and JETTED TUB. Outside the yard offers PRIVACY, and an OVERSIZED LOT. Call to schedule a showing!

THE protective ozone layer in the Earth's upper atmosphere has stopped thinning and should largely be restored by mid-century thanks to a ban on harmful chemicals, UN scientists say. The Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2010 report says a 1987 treaty that phased out chlorofluorocarbons - substances used in refrigerators, aerosol sprays and some packing foams - had been successful. Ozone provides a natural protective filter against harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun, which can cause sunburn, cataracts and skin cancer as well as damage vegetation. First observations of a seasonal ozone hole appearing over the Antarctic occurred in the 1970s and the alarm was raised in the 1980s after it was found to be worsening under the onslaught of CFCs, prompting 196 countries to join the Montreal Protocol. ''It has protected us from further ozone depleting over the past decades,'' Len Barrie, the World Meteorological Organisation head of research, said. Scientists now expect the ozone layer will be restored to 1980 levels in 2045 to 2060.

Nov. 28 (UPI) -- State oil company Pemex is set to add a billion barrels of oil equivalent to reserves after discovering a gas field that, within four years, will yield 80,000 barrels per day of condensates and 700 million cubic feet per day of gas to feed petrochemical units in south Mexico. The discovery in the Ixachi field, state of Veracruz, "is the most important made in the inland portion in the last 25 years and the fourth biggest at a worldwide level in the last decade," the company said on Tuesday. The company said that the field, located 45 miles from the Veracruz port, was initially reported a year ago, but that it now knows after tests that it has a "bigger extension" and that its proven, probable and possible, or 3P, reserves reach 1 billion barrels. Production can begin as soon as 2022 because the field "has the strategic advantage of being close to operating infrastructure, both in wells and in pipelines," Pemex said. The new production will feed petrochemical complexes in the southeast of the country, Pemex CEO Carlos Trevino said. Pemex Petroquimica, which is headquartered in Coatzacoalcos, has several production units in the area. The company makes several plastic resins, fibers, pharmaceutical components and additives for industry. The region is also home to a plant built by a joint venture of Braskem-Idesa that opened in 2016 with capacity to produce over one million metric tons of polyethylene. Braskem, from Brazil, is the biggest Latin American petrochemical producer. Idesa Group is a privately owned Mexican company focused on oil and petrochemicals. The Veracruz basin has helped Mexico produce hydrocarbons for over 60 years. The announcement comes amid criticism in recent months by the Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that Pemex had failed to make discoveries in recent years that could help stop a years-long decline in production. Trevino is set to depart from Pemex, leaving his post to Octavio Romero, who was tapped by Obrador earlier this year and will take over after Obrador begins his term in December. Obrador has also criticized efforts by the current Mexican administration to open up the country's hydrocarbon industry to foreign investment starting in 2013. He has pointed out that since that time output has declined. There is uncertainty as to whether Obrador's administration could reverse earlier decisions as he has announced plans to increase state participation in the industry.

Minnesotans prepare to collect layers of litter that piled up over the winter. Spring’s gradual snowmelt has finally revealed what winter left behind, and it’s anything but pretty or fragrant. All that was tossed, lost and buried under mounds of snow is emerging, prompting some people to hold their noses as they take to the newly passable streets and sidewalks. February’s record snowfalls kept much of the debris lost and frozen — the tennis ball the dog didn’t retrieve, the morning newspaper that got buried, a lost mitten, a dirt-encrusted ski hat, even a departed white squirrel. Andrew Kjelland posted that his iPhone X is still buried somewhere in a shaded snowbank that has yet to melt. But in places where the mounds of snow have disappeared, crunched water bottles, fast-food bags, cigarette butts and bits of paper litter the landscape. Those repelled by it are taking matters into their own hands. Dave Herberholz, who oversees solid waste collection and recycling for Minneapolis, said the city has gotten a surge of requests from businesses, residents and neighborhood groups for supplies to use while picking up the trash that litters boulevards, streets and parks. Through the Clean City program, residents can obtain gloves, yellow trash bags, safety vests and litter grabbers. Lagoon Avenue in Uptown Friday afternoon. Minneapolis and St. Paul both have cleanup days scheduled in April. Other volunteers will soon take to the streets and parks during spring cleanup events sponsored by various groups and communities. For example, St. Paul will hold its annual spring cleanup April 27. Last year, the effort attracted more than 1,500 volunteers. A few hundred who fanned out across Como Park collected enough garbage to fill a couple of pickup trucks, said Tricia Wehrle, who helps organize the annual cleanup. In Minneapolis, about 500 volunteers collected 4,700 pounds of garbage during last year’s annual park cleanup, said Dawn Sommers, spokeswoman for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. This year’s cleanup will be on April 20. “Unfortunately, public litter in the parks during the winter season gets frozen in layers of snow and ice,” Sommers said. With 180 park properties and a lot of snow piles, it takes awhile for crews to clean up the mess, she said. Litter frozen along lake shorelines and water edges is more difficult to clean up and it’s unsafe to try to remove during early spring, she added. Kent Barnard, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, is stunned when he sees people throw cigarette butts, pop cans and other garbage from their car windows. “I want to give them the evil eye,” he said. Some of the roadside litter, however, is unintentional, like the bumper left after cars skidded into one another or a muffler that fell off, Barnard said. Throughout the winter, highway crews remove those things and others — the mattress that slipped from a car’s roof or a load of scrap metal that fell off a semitrailer truck — that pose road hazards. Through spring, crews and Adopt-a-Highway volunteers will trudge along roadsides and in ditches, collecting everything from hub caps to plastic sheeting blown off construction sites to the trash that people should have thrown in the garbage or a recycling bin. “After the winter, there’s just a lot more of it,” Barnard said. And a few surprises: One year Barnard found a small wood stove along a roadside.

Security Officials Warn Of Russia's 'Pervasive Methods' To Weaken U.S. Leaders of the U.S. intelligence and security community told a briefing at the White House that Russia is continuing to use “pervasive methods” to exploit and intensify differences in U.S. society and that they remain concerned about U.S. election security. An influential bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced a package of measures designed to protect “American security from Kremlin aggression,” including new financial sanctions and a “strong statement of support” for NATO. The trial has opened in Sevastopol of two Ukrainian nationals, Volodymyr Dudka and Oleksiy Bessarabov, who are charged with plotting sabotage in Russia-annexed Crimea. France has awarded detained Russian theater and film director Kirill Serebrennikov the Order of Arts and Letters. A new poll shows the number of Russians who view the United States and European Union favorably has dramatically increased since May. Police in Kabul have recovered the bodies of three foreign nationals who were abducted and killed in the Afghan capital, local officials say. Hundreds of protesters returned to the streets of several Iranian cities on August 2, according to state media and social-media posts, amid growing anxiety over the country’s economic difficulties. Ukrainian boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk has rejected a proposal to award him with the country's highest honor, the Hero of Ukraine medal, saying he doesn't need anything from the government. A Russian nongovernmental rights group says it has filed an official complaint over the alleged torture of inmates at a penal colony in the Siberian region of Zabaikalye. The United States has imposed sanctions on two Turkish ministers over the detention of a U.S. pastor, prompting a vow of retaliation from Ankara.

The National Weather Service has canceled an Ice Storm Warning that was issued for much of North Texas. A cold front that sent temperatures plunging below freezing Tuesday is currently moving east. A quarter to a half-inch of ice was reported on some bridges and overpasses overnight. As temperatures drop Wednesday night, some fog may develop, meteorologist David Finfrock said. A few residual ice patches may still be on the roads for Thursday's morning commute. Stranded drivers try to make their way along icy roads in Fort Worth Tuesday morning. Drivers are encouraged to exercise extreme caution when on the roads, especially on bridges and overpasses. Drivers are also advised to allow extra time to reach their destination, maintain a safe speed and not slam on the brakes when approaching an icy patch. If you start to slide or skid, calmly steer in the direction of the skid to straighten the vehicle out and regain control. Motorists can get road information by calling 800-452-9292 or visiting http://www.txdot.gov/travel/road_conditions.htm. On NBCDFW.com: See school and business closings and delays. Travelers can click here to check their flight status.

Lenovo Releasing a 12-Inch IdeaPad S20 Netbook? While it was tough to know just who Dell's Mini 12 appealed to, apparently the idea of a 12-inch netbook wasn't so crazy. Because rumor has it that Lenovo will be releasing one, too.

Even an Oscar winner like Charlize Theron gets starstruck from time to time! The 42-year-old Tully star opened up to Stephen Colbert on Thursday about getting her start in Hollywood after giving up her career as a dancer at the age of 19. Theron called her decision “naïve,” explaining just how little she and her mother understood about making movies. While in Hollywood, Theron’s second project ever was the 1996 film That Thing You Do, co-starring Tom Hanks. In fact, Theron was so flustered that she ended up making an embarrassing mistake several times throughout her audition. Theron recently opened up to ET about putting on weight for her new film about motherhood, Tully. Watch the clip below for the exclusive interview!

Patrick Cannon is no longer the mayor of Charlotte, having finished his eventful day by sending a letter of resignation to the North Carolina city's manager and attorney. Cannon was arrested earlier today by FBI agents, accused of taking bribes totaling $48,000 from undercover agents five times during a four-year investigation. He was "immediately" taken before a judge, according to the Charlotte Observer and released on a $25,000 bond pending the indictment. If convicted of extortion, bribery and honest services wire fraud, Cannon, a Democrat, faces up to 50 years in jail and $1.5 million in fines. In light of the charges that have been brought against me, it is my judgment that the pendency of these charges will create too much of a distraction for the business of the City to go forward smoothly and without much interruption. I regret that I have to take this action, but I believe that it is in the best interest of the City for me to do so. Cannon's resignation is effective immediately. He served on the Charlotte City Council from 1994 until he took the office of mayor in December of last year. In his victory speech, he said becoming mayor of Charlotte was a "life goal."

GAZA CITY: Tens of thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in the Gaza Strip after the end of Friday prayers, while clashes broke out between hundreds of youths and Israeli forces along the border between Gaza and Israel. At least two Palestinians were killed and dozens injured. Fathi Hammad, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told demonstrators in the northern Gaza Strip: “Today we declare an uprising against the occupation, and there are no half solutions. In East Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, clashes broke out along the border with Israel. As Palestinian youths burned tires, Israeli forces reportedly responded with tear gas and live rounds. At least two Palestinians were killed and dozens were injured, some critically. Senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan said during another march in Gaza City: “The Palestinian Authority must take urgent decisions, by declaring the failure of Oslo Accords and the end of that period, ending security coordination (with Israel) and permitting resistance in the West Bank. “Trump’s decision ended any mediation role the United States could play in the political process, destroyed the peace process, and destroyed any talk about a deal to bring peace to the region,” Osama Al-Qawasmi, a Fatah spokesman, said in a statement.

Occupy the SEC held the march to celebrate the release of its 325-page comment letter to the SEC calling for it to strengthen – and then, more important, enforce – the Volcker Rule, which will go into effect on July 21, 2012. According to Aaron Bornstein, who helped organize the march, Occupy the SEC’s comment is about twice the size of the next longest letter, drafted by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a financial interest lobbying group. The working group's detailed policy position gives lie to the common claim that the Occupy Wall Street movement is "well intentioned but misinformed." It shows there's room in the movement both for policy wonks and those chanting "anti-capitalista." The group was aimed to bolster one of the key reforms to emerge since the 2008 crash. The Volcker Rule (named after former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker) is a subsection of the Dodd-Frank act, passed in 2010. Its purpose is to curb risky speculative trading by Wall Street investment firms. The regulations are set to be finalized in mid-July. Until then well-paid lobbyists will do everything they can to create new loopholes that will enable the banks to engage in high-risk, high-reward speculation. Occupy the SEC seeks to block them. “The main takeaway is the bank lobby is not the only player when it comes to influencing the regulators. There’s another side, and we’re trying to take that side,” said Akshat Tewary, an attorney, who helped draft the letter. The action marks an unusual development for both the Occupy Wall Street movement and the SEC. Unlike the Environmental Protection Agency, which gets comments from both industry and environmentalists, the SEC usually only hears from industry. The movement is bolstering the regulators, not bad-mouthing them. While the Occupy movement is often characterized by its disruptive street protests, it also includes a faction willing to dedicate untold hours of detailed policy analysis urging the SEC to do its job. That's a more full understanding of what the movement calls "diversity of tactics." It’s hard to argue with Occupy the SEC’s recommendations. The Volcker Rule currently has an exemption for “repos,” which, Akshat tells me, is “basically a way to get funding at a very high leverage and very quickly.” Alexis describes repos like a pawn shop transaction. You sell your watch to the pawn shop for cash, but you plan on buying it back. Repos are one of the reasons Lehman Brothers fell as swiftly as it did in 2008, and Occupy the SEC thinks that exempting them from the Volcker rule is a “terrible” idea. They also want illiquid, over-the-counter financial products – like mortgage-backed securities – to be forbidden. As Alexis Goldstein puts it, “There’s a clause that says any high-risk asset shouldn’t be allowed by the rule, and we think over-the-counter illiquid assets are high risk.” The millions of Americans still suffering the effects of the Great Recession that began with the 2008 Wall Street crash are likely to agree. In addition to its attempt to directly influence the SEC, the group hopes to wage a broad educational campaign to teach the public about the financial industry. Occupy Wall Street has already successfully jammed early-stage class consciousness into the American zeitgeist. Occupy the SEC is hoping to build on that. John Knefel is the co-host of Radio Dispatch and a freelance writer based in Brooklyn. Follow him on Twitter @johnknefel.

Brighton defender and boyhood Chelsea fan Lewis Dunk grew up idolising John Terry, would travel to London to support them and even now has a dog named after Didier Drogba. Yet on his first visit to Stamford Bridge as an opponent, the 26-year-old will put his feelings to one side and ignore the urge to purchase a half-and-half scarf ahead of the Boxing Day clash. Brighton-born Dunk chose to support Chelsea because of Terry and the way he would put his body on the line for three points. He is now prepared to do the same in this Premier League clash. ‘When that day comes I’m not a Chelsea fan,’ Dunk said. ‘I’ll go on the pitch and I want to win. It doesn’t matter if I’m a Chelsea fan or not, I want to win on that day. ‘Growing up as a central defender, I just enjoyed watching Terry play, learning how he played and seeing how he played. That was the only reason really. I enjoyed watching him putting his body on the line and I’d like to think I do that. Chris Hughton’s Brighton earned their first Premier League win in eight games against Watford on Saturday while Chelsea will look to bounce back from their 0-0 draw at Everton. The last time Brighton beat Chelsea in any competition was in January 1933 in the FA Cup. Dunk is expecting Alvaro Morata to be a handful after the £60million striker was suspended for the trip to Everton. Brighton’s Connor Goldson made his Premier League debut against Watford – only nine months after undergoing heart surgery. The 25-year-old is likely to drop back down to the bench with Dunk’s defensive partner Shane Duffy no longer suspended.

Saturday Night Live has been a hallmark of American sketch comedy for over 40 years. It’s no exaggeration to say that the show jump-started the careers of the country’s favorite comedians, from Eddie Murphy to Tina Fey, Bill Murray to Jimmy Fallon. SNL has a way of attracting the best minds in comedy and propelling them from the show’s set and into their own storied film, television, or late night talk shows careers. Remarkably, SNL’s format has remained the same for nearly the entirety of the show’s decades-long run (it’s also one of the longest-running network television program of all time). The show starts cold, with a sketch that always ends in that iconic, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” A celebrity guest hosts and kicks off the show by delivering a comedic monologue at the top of the hour, but the meat of SNL consists of a number of sketches, most of which are live and star the regular cast plus the celebrity host. The show is also punctuated by performances from that week’s musical guest. That stable structure is the only stable thing about the show, though. The sketches can be hit or miss—you can’t expect a group of comedians to get it right every week. But SNL is not just one of the best comedy sketch shows. It’s a seminal part of American life and culture. As a weekly show, it needs, by definition, to stay very in tune with pop culture and politics in order to stay relevant. As a result, SNL tends to provide a sharper perspective on the country’s most pressing issues—whether that’s Trump or race issues or sexual harassment in the workplace—by satirizing the hell out of it. In honor of the show, here is a list of the 35 best SNL skits that have ever aired. From fake commercials to digital shorts to impressions, game shows, musical parodies, political satires, and celeb appearances, something in this list is bound to crack you up.

US President Donald Trump is facing accusations that he has put the life of a Muslim congresswoman at risk through one of his tweets. Trump selectively quoted Ilhan Omar, making it look like she was downplaying the 9/11 attacks. Disapproving of Trump's remark, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, "Members of Congress have a duty to respond to the president's explicit attack today. Ilhan Omar's life is in danger." Al Jazeera's John Hendren reports from Washington, DC.

Infamous former Georgetown Law student and now social justice attorney Sandra Fluke is back in the news thanks to the Supreme Court agreeing to take up a case surrounding the employer contraception mandate in Obamacare. In case you need a reminder, Fluke is the woman who testified before Congress in 2012 about how birth control should be paid for by someone else because it can cost a female student "$3,000 during law school." Last night on MSNBC, Fluke argued that employers cannot be exempted from the contraception mandate in Obamacare because that would mean they could also opt. out of paying for insurance that covers blood transfusions. This isn't the first time Fluke has compared contraception to life saving medical procedures that have nothing to do with religious beliefs. She once said that companies opposing the contraception mandate in Obamacare on religious grounds is the same thing as opposing Leukemia coverage.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian army and allied forces supported by Russian warplanes made further advances as they pressed an offensive against insurgents on Monday, in the fiercest clashes for nearly a week, a monitor said. Russian jets carried out at least 20 air strikes on the town of Kafr Nabuda in Hama province in western Syria, and hundreds of shells hit the area as the Syrian army and Hezbollah fighters seized part of it, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have in the past few days recaptured territory close to the government's coastal heartland in the west thanks to Russian intervention, reversing rebel advances made earlier this year.

Donald Trump, the US presidential contender who has electrified the republican right, has taken his campaign against windfarms to the UK’s supreme court. Despite losing at every stage in the Scottish courts, the billionaire property developer is funding a fresh challenge to prevent offshore turbines being built within sight of his Menie golf resort in Aberdeenshire. The New York tycoon, who declared he was prepared to spend $1bn (£650m) to advance his political ambitions, has sufficient resources to bankroll another round of protracted, private litigation. He has already threatened to take his lawsuit to European courts if he loses in the supreme court. Trump, 69, whose mother was Scottish, did not appear in person at the supreme court in Westminster on Thursday. The presidential race, in which he has emerged as a Republican frontrunner, is heating up. The Menie estate was purchased by Trump in 2006 and transformed into a golf resort on protected coastal dunes north of Aberdeen. In 2011, Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm Limited applied for consent under the Electricity Act 1989 to construct an electricity generating station and offshore wind turbines off Aberdeenshire. Permission was granted by the Scottish government in 2013 for 11 turbines, which Trump says will form a “monstrous” blight on the coastal landscape. He is questioning whether the planning decision is lawful. The turbines will be about 2 miles (3km) from the course. The case, set for a day’s hearing at the supreme court, focuses on the correct interpretation of the Electricity Act 1989 – specifically who is eligible “to apply for consent to construct a generating station”. John Campbell QC, representing Trump, told the court that the regulations governing protection of the environment for major electricity schemes had been misinterpreted. Trump has accused Scotland’s former first minister, Alex Salmond – originally a powerful ally for the New York-based property developer – of being biased in favour of the £230m project and skewing the approval process. In June, three senior judges in Edinburgh ruled that the allegations were unfounded and that Trump had no grounds for accusing Scottish ministers of illegally agreeing to license the experimental 100MW offshore windfarm. Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland, said: “Donald Trump should be using his vast wealth to do good instead of trying kill off initiatives that will create jobs, boost the economy and help cut carbon emissions. The case is being be heard by five justices: lords Neuberger, Mance, Reed, Carnwath and Hodge. In future, the supreme court is likely to hear fewer Scottish cases. The threshold test certifying that any claim raises a significant point of law will be raised from 22 October, bringing it into line with other parts of the UK. In the past, the endorsement of two QCs was deemed sufficient for any appeal from Scotland’s inner house, its highest civil court, to go to the supreme court in London. The Trump appeal was referred under the soon-to-be replaced procedure.

KINGSLAND - A piece of the swamp will be at stake for Saturday's Florida-Georgia game. But Gators fans don't have to worry. No part of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field, better known as The Swamp, is endangered. The game's winner will be awarded the Okefenokee Oar, a paddle made from a piece of cypress organizers said grew to be an estimated 1,000 years old in the huge swamp on the Georgia-Florida border. Eric Conrad, a student government spokesman at University of Florida, said the idea for the trophy was proposed about two months ago and was announced this week. The intent is to start a tradition that goes beyond bragging rights between the two universities, similar to those at other colleges with long rivalries. The new trophy will be presented to representatives from the student body of the winning team, similar to Paul Bunyan's Axe taken home by the winner of the Minnesota-Wisconsin game and the Governor's Cup after the Georgia-Georgia Tech game. "We're trying to get more students involved," Conrad said. The student presidents from both universities will attend the game with hopes of bringing the new trophy home, he said. "A lot of people know the disputed story between the states," Conrad said. During Spanish occupation of Florida, British and Spanish officials disputed the location of their boundaries. Spanish officials argued their territory extended to the Altamaha River, located north of St. Simons Island, while British troops occupied land as far south as Cumberland Island near what is now the state line. Jim Burkart, a refuge ranger at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, said he was unaware of the new trophy but likes the idea. "We surely love the Okefenokee symbolism," he said. Though the refuge boundaries end at the state line, the swamp extends into Florida and shares the same ecosystem, he said. "Both states are common to the swamp itself," Burkhart said. "Both universities have done research here." Larnell Vickers, student body vice president at University of Florida, said he hopes the oar becomes a tradition in years to come in what is considered one of college football's most heated rivalries. Vickers said Florida students hope to have the oar on display in the university's trophy case after Saturday's game. "I think it's awesome to have a new tradition started," Vickers said. "There's more hype."

The average reading and mathematics scores for Native American and Alaska Native students remained flat on the National Assessment of Educational Progress from 2005 to 2009, a federal report says. And only 57 percent of 8th graders who are Native Americans or Alaska Natives report they plan to go to college full time after high school, the study released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences found. The study stemmed from an executive order on American Indian and Alaska Native education signed by President George W. Bush in 2004. Its findings on Native American students’ lackluster achievement come as President Barack Obama’s administration is putting new emphasis on working with tribal leaders on American Indian education issues. The Education Department is working with the U.S. Department of the Interior to conduct “consultations” throughout Indian country on how to improve education for Native American students. Charlie Rose, the Education Department’s general counsel, said in a telephone interview this week that he’s been devoting a “significant amount of time” to the issue and added that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is focusing on it as well. Mr. Rose was expecting to take part in a consultation at the Navajo Nation’s department of education today in Window Rock, Ariz. So far, federal Education Department officials have participated in consultations with tribes in Alaska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and New Mexico. In addition to the one scheduled for today in Arizona, a consultation is planned for Washington state, Mr. Rose said. Mr. Rose said that the Obama administration is in a “listening” stage, and that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will be the vehicle to address some of the tribes’ concerns. Some tribes, he said, also would like to see their own education departments given status equal to that of state education agencies for receiving federal aid under the next version of the ESEA. Native American and Alaska Native students in 4th grade scored about the same as black and Hispanic students on NAEP in reading, according to the study. Such students in the 8th grade scored higher than black students on average in reading and about the same as Hispanic students in that subject. In math, the scores for Native American 4th graders were higher on average than those for black 4th graders and lower than those for Hispanic 4th graders. In the 8th grade, Native Americans scored higher than black students and about the same as Hispanic students in math. In 2009, 50 percent of Native American 4th graders scored at the “basic” level or above in reading on NAEP, the report says, while 62 percent of Native American 8th graders scored at that level. In math, 66 percent of Native American 4th graders scored at “basic” or above, while 56 percent of Native American 8th graders scored at the same level in that subject. The study also looked at achievement of Native Americans in 12 states that have large populations of such students and found widely varying results. For example, while only 26 percent of Native American 4th graders scored at “basic” or above in reading in Alaska, 63 percent did so in Oklahoma. While average NAEP test scores in math for Native American students didn’t budge for the nation from 2005 to 2009, they did increase in two of the 12 states that the study examined. Of the seven states that had large enough samples of Native American students to report achievement results in both 2005 and 2009, Oklahoma had a 5-point increase, on a scale of 500 points, for 4th graders in math, and South Dakota had a 10-point increase for 8th graders in the same subject. None of those seven states, however, had a significant increase in reading scores over that time span for either 4th or 8th graders. In addition to providing data about the achievement of Native American students, the study examined cultural aspects of the education of such students, basing its findings on surveys of students and their teachers. The study found, for example, that the teachers of 43 percent of Native American 4th graders integrate lessons and materials about Native American culture and history and current Native American issues into their reading or math lessons at least once a month. About 3,800 4th grade teachers and 4,600 8th grade teachers participated in the study’s survey of teachers. That section of the study also notes that just 57 percent of Native American 8th graders have plans to attend college full time after high school. Twenty-seven percent of Native American 8th graders said they planned to work full time, and 19 percent said they intended to join the military. Some wanted to work or go to school part time or had other plans. Mr. Rose said that about 90 percent of the nation’s Native American students attend regular public schools. The study found that achievement of Native Americans in such schools was higher than that of their counterparts in schools run by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Education. At the same time, the part of the study looking at cultural aspects of students’ education found that students in BIE schools were more likely to have Native American teachers and opportunities to learn about their culture, history, and current Native American issues than their American Indian peers in regular public schools. “Native American Students Flag Holes in Instruction,” June 25, 2008. “Native Americans' Reading,” May 21, 2008.

PAUL Danan has clashed with Gemma Collins after slamming her demanding behaviour on Celebs Go Dating. The former Hollyoaks star, 39, called the Towie favourite, 37, a "d***" after she bossed lover Laurence around in last night's episode of the ITV show. Paul wrote on Twitter: "What a horrible arrogant nasty girl @missgemcollins is on @CelebsGoDating #disgusted #SoNotFunny." Gemma was seen in Tuesday evening's show in Cape Verde with contestants Laurence and Daniel. While on a dinner date with Laurence she said: "You have to look like a movie star next to me. "Can’t be no crumpled up T-shirt and s**t shorts. "They’ve got to be bang on. Have you got nice loafers, wads of cash in the pocket?" Laurence seemed to be ok with her demands and simply nodded back at her. The Towie star later defended her bossy behaviour in her own Tweet. She wrote: "Entertainment is what I do best wether you love it or hate it it's what I do best." Not happy with her post, the former Celebrity Love Island and Celebrity Big Brother contestant commented "d***" in response. Paul's criticism comes as Gemma shared a hilarious video of Laurence doing her packing. In a clip posted to Instagram, her Celebs Go Dating beau can be seen folding clothes neatly into her suitcase. However Laurence seems more than willing to be of assistance. Just days ago he was spotted taking a tool kit round to her Essex boutique to do some DIY. His attentiveness comes despite Gemma standing him up on a planned romantic break to Paris last week. Laurence was filmed calling the show's dating experts Nadia Essex and Eden Blackman who were shocked to hear Gemma had stood him up at the station. Nadia said to him: "If Gemma Collins has decided a lie in is better than a date to Paris with you, heads will roll."

UPDATE, 3:25 PM: This is weird. It isn’t just that CEO Reed Hastings wouldn’t comment on the big story of the day — his talks to secure an exclusive streaming deal for DreamWorks Animation’s films. Netflix requires analysts to email their questions, so there was no opportunity for someone to ask a follow-up. Hastings simply says that “we’re always in talks with all of the different providers.” Ugh. As for the price change, Hastings says that although “we feel bad about having customers upset with us,” the company anticipated the widespread anger and still feels “great about the decision.” Netflix wasn’t looking specifically to raise consumer prices, he says. The company wanted to separate the U.S.-based DVD rental business from its global streaming-only business — the main focus now. “The pricing change was an outcome of that.” He says it will generate more revenue for the company by year’s end. PREVIOUS, 1:27 PM: Looks like Netflix won’t escape unscathed from the 60% price hike for its combined DVD rental and online streaming service. CEO Reed Hastings says in a letter to shareholders that in Q3 “we will see only the negative impact of the pricing change,” with domestic subscriber net additions lower than in the same period last year. Also, revenues “will only grow slightly on a sequential basis.” Still, Hastings defends the price change saying that Q4 could be “our first billion-dollar revenue quarter, driven by strong U.S. performance.” Netflix says that in Q2 it generated $68M in net income, up 54.5% vs the same period last year, on revenues of $789M, up 51.7%. The profit figure, at $1.26 a share, solidly beat the $1.11 consensus among analysts who follow the company. But the revenue figure was light. Analysts expected nearly $792M. Netflix says it had 24.6M subscribers as of June 30, up 7.9% from March. There’s still no word about a streaming deal with DreamWorks Animation. But you can be sure it will come up this evening when the company holds a conference call with analysts. Stay tuned.

SLOW DOWN: Are speeding motorists a problem in Taunton? THINKING I would spend a pleasant afternoon gardening on Saturday, after a couple of hours I had to go inside. I was sick to death of listening to the morons who keep driving at breakneck speeds, tyres squealing, exhausts backfiring, horns blaring around the Wedlands, Lyngford and Eastwick Road areas for hours on end. It's bad enough having to listen to them late at night but it seems utterly ridiculous that they are allowed to do this in broad daylight when there is obviously much more traffic and many more pedestrians about. In the past I have contacted my local councillor, who apparently was told by the police that it was a lone moped rider and they had dealt with it. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as there are several cars being driven by these idiots and also at least one who rides a high-powered motorbike! Surely I am not the only person living in this area to be really annoyed by these law breakers getting away with this? It must be even worse for the residents who actually live in the roads they are using but it seems that nothing has been done to stop them. Perhaps its not a 'high priority' case for the police but may become one if someone is injured or killed as has happened in the past by drivers racing at high speed.

Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, in a file photo from 2002. More than 3 million of the country's 24 million people live here. Windows may soon support the new time zone announced by the North Korean government on Friday. In a post to Microsoft's Daylight Saving Time & Time Zone Blog, a company staffer said that it is "currently investigating" the creation of a new time zone in Windows to work with the change. Microsoft expects that a patch for the time zone change will be available either later in August or at the beginning of September. The state-operated Korean Central News Agency announced the change on Friday and said that the country would be migrating to the new time zone on August 15. The news agency said that the new time zone, which is 8-and-a-half hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), will return North Korea's time zone to where it was before the Korean peninsula was colonized by Japan. Changing its time zone will put North Korea half an hour behind South Korea. While the country has a home-grown version of the Linux operating system, Windows is more widely used on computers at schools, universities, libraries and in companies. Microsoft isn't a stranger to updating its operating system to match different countries' decisions about how they want to manage their clocks. After all, the company has a blog dedicated to discussing its handling of different time zone choices. What makes this choice interesting is that Windows 10 isn't specifically localized for North Korea's dialect of Korean (which is different from that used in the South, similar to the difference between American and British English) and the operating system's region menu lists Korea as one region. The company hasn't offered any further explanation about its decision to support the time zone. A representative for Microsoft didn't respond to a request for comment on this post. Apple and Google haven't made similar announcements, but the North Korean government's announcement is only hours old.

Griffith Ogden Ellis, a Mason and clubman, is Senior Vice President of the Bank of Detroit. For seven years he was president of the Detroit Street Railway Commission. Another job, however, is really his most important one. He, head of the Sprague Publishing Co., has since 1908 been editor and publisher of the largest magazine for youths, the American Boy. Last week Mr. Ellis further increased his tasks by purchasing and merging with his American Boy its biggest rival, Youth's Companion.

First flights are already planned for early May. The newly emerging low-cost airline, Blue Slovakia, wants to provide scheduled domestic air transport in Slovakia and is waiting for permits. Kolárik is the founder and main investor of Blue Slovakia. He worked for 10 years in military aviation, the airline website states. The airline should receive its own AOC permit as well as the necessary licences from the Transport and Construction Ministry by the end of 2017. Until then, it wants to operate the flights under the AOC held by the Van Air Europe airline. At the moment Van Air Europe possesses two 19-seat L 410 UVP transport aircrafts. It is planning to expand the fleet with an Aerei di Transport Regional ATR 72 aircraft, TASR reported. Blue Slovakia wants to interconnect the biggest Slovak airports, such as those in Bratislava, Košice, Poprad-Tatry (near the High Tatars), Sliač (Banská Bystrica region), Žilina and the spa town of Piešťany (Trnava Region). Later Blue Slovakia wants to specialise on charter passenger and cargo air transport within Europe on regional routes. Currently, Slovakia does not have a national airline. The only regular regional route is between Bratislava and Košice. It is operated by Czech Airlines and the route continues on to the Czech capital, Prague.

New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur was unhappy with Landon Collins' speaking publicly about Ereck Flowers' standing with the organization. "That's not for Landon to talk about," Shurmur told reporters Saturday. "The important thing is let's let Ereck talk for Ereck when he gets here, and we'll talk about that later. I don't think our players should be talking about another player's situation." On Boomer and Gio on May 4, Collins said Flowers was "unhappy" the Giants signed offensive tackle Nate Solder in free agency. Solder, who spent the first seven years of his career with the New England Patriots, signed a four-year deal worth up to $62 million to take Flowers' spot as New York's starting left tackle. Giants general manager Dave Gettleman told reporters after Solder joined the team that Flowers could start at right tackle if he wins the job during training camp. Collins has spoken out publicly about his teammates before. He issued an apology in December after he called Eli Apple a "cancer." Shurmur was hired by the Giants to turn around a team that finished with the NFC's worst record (3-13) in 2017. He served as the Minnesota Vikings' offensive coordinator last season and was 9-23 in two seasons as head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 2011-12.

Hackers operating under the Anonymous umbrella have leaked more than a million Apple iPhone and iPad IDs allegedly swiped from the FBI. Hackers operating under the Anonymous umbrella have leaked more than 1 million Apple iPhone and iPad IDs, which were allegedly swiped from the FBI. On Monday, the Antisec arm of the hacker collective said it had released 1,000,001 unique device identifier numbers (UDIDs) used by Apple, app developers, and ad networks to label iPhone and iPad users. The details were allegedly stolen from the FBI, according to Forbes. The hackers posted a lengthy message on Pastebin with links to data culled from a larger database of more than 12 million users' personal information, Forbes said. Forbes' Andy Greenberg downloaded and decrypted the encrypted files. While there is no simple way to confirm the authenticity or source of the data, he found an enormous list of 40-character strings composed of numbers and letters A through F – Apple UDIDs' DNA, Greenberg said. Each line comes with what Anonymous says is an Apple Push Notification badge, as well as a username and a note signifying the accompanying device. "We decided we'd help out Internet security by auditing [the] FBI first," the Antisec message said. The hackers trimmed out personal data like full names, cell numbers, addresses, and ZIP codes, but left one main column that included enough information to help users see if their information was listed or not, the group said. Antisec said it had Robin Hood-like motives – rob from the government and give to the citizens. "We have learnt it seems quite clear nobody pays attention if you just come and say 'hey, FBI is using your device details and info and who the [expletive] know what the hell are they experimenting with that', well sorry, but nobody will care," they said. The data was breached using a vulnerability in Java, according to Antisec, which also reiterated its support for WikiLeaks and its editor, Julian Assange, who was recently granted political asylum by Ecuadorean officials. The hackers' statement said that this is the right moment to release the data because Apple is looking for alternatives to the UDID system. "We never liked the concept of UDIDs since the beginning indeed," Antisec said. "Really bad decision from Apple. Fishy thingie." Anonymous has refused to grant interviews to the press, saying that for now, their released statement will be the only comment. In June 2010, an AT&T security breach exposed 114,000 email addresses and ICC-IDs of various Apple iPad owners. Two men were arrested for the crime last year. Update: As PCMag's Security Watch reported this afternoon, the FBI has denied a security breach, while security experts question whether the leak is just an Anonymous PR stunt.

After graduating from Princeton, Nathaniel Mackey pursued a doctorate at Stanford. Alongside an accomplished career in writing, editing, and literary criticism, Mackey is now the Reynolds Price Professor of Creative Writing at Duke. Mackey will read from his work at Dey House at 8 p.m. today. His collections of poetry include Nod House (2011), Splay Anthem (2006), which won the National Book Award, Whatsaid Serif (1998), and Eroding Witness (1985). Mackey has also published several installments of prose including From a Broken Bottle Traces of Perfume Still Emanate and Bedouin Hornbook in 1986. As a literary theorist, his critical work includes Discrepant Engagement: Dissonance, Cross-Culturality, and Experimental Writing (1993) and Paracritical Hinge: Essays, Talks, Notes, Interviews (2005). Various cultural dispositions come into contact with one another in his poetry and prose. They present alternative ways of viewing the world. Serving as the chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2001 to 2007, Mackey has received such prestigious honors as a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Fellowship, and the Roy Harvey Pearce/Archive for New Poetry Prize Award, among others. At Stanford, Mackey wrote his dissertation on Robert Duncan, an influential figure in both the San Francisco Renaissance and the Black Mountain school of poetry. Inspired by these poetic movements, Mackey delved into topics of African-American folklore, West African mythology, and religious Middle Eastern tradition, among others. “[Music and language] can and do bring a certain solace to it, mixing consolation and complaint,” Mackey said in an interview with the Iowa Review. “The word is our rescue, whether spoken, written, sung, or nonverbally intoned, in part because the language of music and the music of language accent a tending-toward. By incorporating various artistic media, Mackey loosens the constraints of genre. Connor Southard of the Duke Chronicle referred to this combination as mystical — moving from the concrete to the mundane. Mackey said African-American improvisational tradition has transcended both era and culture. Music stands as a “metaphor for all kinds of processes of cultural and social revaluation, cultural and social critique, cultural and social change,” Mackey told the Duke Chronicle. Andrew R. Mossin in an Iowa Review interview notes the recurring use of orphanhood and displacement in his work. Mackey calls the orphan an archetypal figure — one constantly torn between solace and anxiety.

Former Flint Department of Public Works director Howard Croft is shown in this Flint Journal file photo. FLINT, MI -- Defending former Flint Department of Public Works Director Howard Croft against criminal charges related to the Flint water crisis won't be a usual day at the office for court-appointed attorney Doug Theodoroff. Croft, 51, is one of 13 defendants charged in connection to one of the state's highest-profile court dramas -- an expensive, time-consuming investigation of criminal wrongdoing tied to the city's mad-made water emergency -- and the only one represented by a public defender. In a crisis where the state is already paying out millions for legal fees, Theodoroff is working under guidelines that pay out $400 for a half-day trial and $50 for a guilty plea. "I was called (by the court) and asked if I'd be willing to take it," said Theodoroff, who has practiced law for more than two decades and typically handles felony cases for the indigent in Genesee County. "This is a unique situation (so the county) will do some things differently ... I'm sure they will be more than accommodating." Theodoroff said he expects he'll be given the resources to provide a rigorous defense for Croft, who told Genesee District Court Judge Nathaniel Perry last month that he had no job or assets and could not afford to hire his own attorney. Croft faces felony charges of false pretenses and conspiracy to commit false pretenses -- charges based on a complicated set of allegations, and his first attorney quit the case, claiming his client talked for hours with investigators without telling him. Former Director of Public Works Howard Croft, facing two felony charges related to the Flint water crisis, says he has no money or assets and needs a court-appointed attorney to represent him. Special prosecutors claim Croft conspired with emergency managers and another city employee to mislead state officials about the extent of an unresolved environmental problem -- an unlicensed dump -- in order to secure millions of dollars in borrowing capacity, funding that was used break away from the Detroit water system. The case involves hundreds of thousands of documents and has been backed by millions from the state treasury -- not exactly a run-of-the mill paternity case or $200 representation of a client who pleads guilty in a plea hearing. But despite the perception that public defenders are inexperienced, overworked or lacking the means to properly prepare their cases, Theodoroff said he'll ask the county court system for the resources he needs and expects to get it. He said it's too early to discuss the potential for a plea agreement for his new client. The latest charges against four government employees accused of criminal wrongdoing in the Flint water crisis has taken prosecutors into new territory -- from an unlicensed dump on Bray Road straight to the front door of Gov. Rick Snyder. Court-appointed attorneys are a last resort for defendants facing criminal charges, and Michigan's system for providing them has been rated by some as among the worst in the nation, partly because of limited resources. In 2013, Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law legislation creating the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission, a 16-member panel charged with creating and enforcing minimum standards for legal representation in jurisdictions across the state. The establishment came after an advisory commission recommended changes in the state's legal system. Professor Tonya Krause-Phelan of Wetsern Michigan University's Cooley Law School said Croft can get a strong defense even though he can't afford to hire the attorney of his choice and the city of Flint isn't providing one for him. Howard Croft, the Flint department head responsible for oversight of the city's water operations, met with an investigator for "several hours" without informing his attorney, city records show. "The court typically is going to give us resources we need to competently provide" a defense. "For an indigent system to work, the court has to fund within reason what's needed," said Krause-Phelan, herself a former public defender. "In all the years I practiced in Kent County, I never had a bill questioned by the judges," she said. Croft was in charge of city parks, utilities and street maintenance as DPW director but resigned in November 2015 as the extent of Flint's water emergency started to take shape. He was arraigned on Dec. 20, but showed up in Flint District Court without an attorney, eventually telling Perry he had no money or other assets and declining to comment further to reporters. Like many state and city employees involved in the water crisis, Croft was initially provided an attorney but that lawyer resigned seven months ago after Croft met alone with investigators from the Attorney General's Office -- against his attorney's wishes. He was apparently without an attorney since that time. Kristin Moore, a spokeswoman for Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, did not immediately respond to questions about Croft's legal representation but said Weaver has been concerned about the cost of providing attorneys for employees and former employees. Moore said the city "had no role in Mr. Croft's request for a public defender." "Mayor Weaver is concerned about the city of Flint being on the hook for the legal fees of people accused of actions that may have led to the water crisis and therefore continues to negotiate with state officials to have the state assist with these rising costs," Moore said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal.

With what is expected to be a packed state and local ballot this year, Garfield County voters now know how their county commissioners will vote on Ballot Measure 112, if they didn’t already. The measure would impose a 2,500-foot setback on oil and gas operations throughout the state. The local commissioners on Monday, at Commissioner Tom Jankovsky’s urging, unanimously agreed to oppose the measure, and are encouraging other voters to do the same. Since the last time the commissioners discussed the initiative in August, advocates got an estimated 123,000 signatures, well over the 98,492 required, to put the question on the ballot. Current setback rules, established by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2013, established a 500-foot statewide setback rule, as well as a 1,000-foot setback from high occupancy buildings such as schools, nursing homes and hospitals. According to an analysis done by the COGCC, the ballot initiative would prohibit oil and gas development on 99.8 percent of Garfield County private lands based on proximity to occupied structures and vulnerable areas. Supporters have argued that the measure would only apply to new oil and gas wells and related facilities, and not existing ones. However, opponents have questioned that assertion, saying any re-worked oil and gas sites could also fall under the new rules, if imposed by voters.

Here’s a better-than-average spook house movie, mostly because Insidious decides it can haunt an audience without spraying it with blood. This is major since director James Wan is the artery sprayer who gave us the first slice of the Saw series. The plot is yet another succubus feeding off The Amityville Horror and Paranormal Activity with teacher dad (Patrick Wilson) and songwriter mom (Rose Byrne) moving into an old house with their two young sons and a new baby. That’s when things start to go bump in the night and one son (Ty Simpkins) falls into a coma. The reasons you won’t slip into a snooze is that Wilson and Byrne play it for real and Wan and witty screenwriter Leigh Whannell work you over like pros. In a multiplex ready to sucker punch us with wimpy kids and animated swill about Easter bunnies that hop-hop-hop, Insidious thinks we’ll be better served by a scare flick that can fry nerves and tickle funnybones in high style. I sure was.

Synopsis Author and blogger Jason Y. Ng has a knack for making the familiar both fascinating and funny. Three years after his bestselling début HONG KONG State of Mind, the razor-sharp observer returns with a sequel that is bigger and every bit as poignant. No City for Slow Men is a collection of 36 essays that examine some of the pressing social, cultural and existential issues facing Hong Kong. It takes us from the gravity-defying property market to the plunging depths of old age poverty, from the storied streets of Sheung Wan to the beckoning island of Cheung Chau, from the culture-shocked Western expat to the misunderstood Mainland Chinese and the disenfranchised foreign domestic worker. The result is a treatise on Hong Kong life that is thought-provoking, touching and immensely entertaining. Jason Ng, author of "No City for Slow Men", talks to Annemarie Evans about his family and his thoughts on some hot issues like property and domestic helpers.

Reminiscent of an art gallery, the store was designed by Peter Marino. NEW YORK – Louis Vuitton’s SoHo boutique at 116 Greene Street here has gone arty in its redesign. The store was designed by Peter Marino to resemble an art gallery, a concept that hasn’t been featured in Louis Vuitton stores in the U.S. before but was incorporated in the brand’s St. Germain store that opened in Paris on Oct. 1. The original SoHo store, which opened in 1998 and also was designed by Marino, has the distinction of being the first of the company’s stores to display its ready-to-wear that was launched that year and has hosted several important global events. In 2011, Vuitton took over the adjoining building that housed a Mont Blanc unit and combined both sites into a store that spans just more than 10,000 square feet. The SoHo store remained open throughout the renovation, closing off one half at a time. The entire project took a year and was completed Thursday. Michael Burke, chairman and chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton, addressed the importance of art and design to the brand experience. Marino redesigned the store to reflect Vuitton’s roots as a travel company while giving it an art gallery feel. The renovated store combines modern, minimal and streamlined design, using twisted carbon fiber shelving with a natural rugged feeling with petrified wood and leather. The architecture is designed to support the artwork that is prominently displayed throughout the store. Some of his ideas for the SoHo store sprang from Vuitton artistic director for women’s collections Nicolas Ghesquière’s shows for the brand, “which are so high-tech and have computers and all this speed and are incredibly beautiful and very high-tech,” Marino said. “There are no more veneers, everything is solid wood that’s sculpted or hit or beat up. I’m dead-set against smooth veneer stuff. It just looks like 20 years ago. It’s all very textured against this super smoothness of these carbon fiber shelves,” he said. Marino chose to work with artists Shuji Mukai and Giuseppe Penone. The principles of the art movements with which each is associated — the Gutai movement for Mukai and arte povera for Penone — have roots in the Sixties and heavily influenced the concept and development of the store. Marino commissioned Japanese artist Mukai to paint three columns, part of the floor and ceiling within the women’s universe on the main floor. “The columns were there, we exposed them,” he said. He learned about the Gutai movement because he saw an exhibition on Kazuo Shiraga. “I went to the Venice Biennale two years ago and discovered a huge room painted by Shuji Mukai and I went crazy. And then I read he was part of the Gutai movement. I asked him, ‘Would you do something for us?’ And he said he’d be delighted.” He hand-painted these columns with his team of three people on site. The piece by Penone, an Italian artist, hangs over the staircase and is made of molded leather and bronze. “It was a purchase from an art gallery. It just fit that wall so cool. I had seen the Penone show at Versailles two summers ago and went bonkers. He’s so good. There’s something about the natural leather, and Vuitton is a leather goods company,” Marino said. The store features wide plank oak floors. Also lending to the art gallery feel is the track lighting. “I don’t usually do that in Louis Vuitton. It’s what you and I, if we moved into a loft, would put track lighting so we light everything. We’re not trying to be hyper-sophisticated. We restored the old metal tin ceilings that were there rather than do a new store sheet rock ceiling. It’s very SoHo. We put a lot of money into restoration, and we hung the light track below the old tin ceilings. It’s cool, and it’s something legitimate, it’s real, and we’re not trying to force some uptown design on the beautiful nature of the cast iron building,” he said. “We’re really doing a lot of historic restoration in these spaces and trying to be legitimate and not so corporate. We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful spaces and then go with a light-handed touch,” Marino said. The color schemes, he said, are very Vuitton: luggage color of dark brown and parchment and ivory. “Dark brown stands for the masculine side of the business, and the ivory stands for the women. They are one of the few companies that are 50/50. Chanel is all women. Dior has a men’s business, but it’s not one-tenth the size of the women’s,” Marino said. Marino, who has worked for Vuitton for almost 20 years, is designing over five locations for the brand this year and next. In addition to the new concept store in St. Germain are a pair of stores in Hong Kong (Canton Road and Landmark) that are opening this month, and a new flagship in Paris at Place Vendome that will open at the end of next summer. The SoHo boutique carries a full offering of Vuitton products including men’s and women’s rtw, leather goods, shoes, accessories, watches, jewelry and fragrance. Vuitton’s Objets Nomades collection of travel-inspired furniture and home accessories will also be on display and available for purchase. Highlights include the Maracatu and Cocoon chair designed by the Campana Brothers and the Concertina chair and table by Raw Edges. At the right-hand entrance to the store are women’s leather goods and accessories. It then flows into perfumes, fine jewelry, sunglasses, scarves, belts and perfume. The left-hand entrance features women’s rtw and footwear. Downstairs, which previously housed women’s rtw and a stock room, is now completely devoted to men’s wear and accessories, such as eyewear, belts, travel, leather goods and small leather goods. “I wanted to make a space where you want to hang out on Saturday,” Marino said. The men’s department also features an on-site hot stamping machine for luggage and two men’s dressing rooms. The SoHo store will have several exclusives available only at that location. They include a “Capucine Skyline,” ($6,500) that has been created by Vuitton’s artisans to commemorate the store’s renovation. Silver and pink pearls are cut, painted and varnished by hand and then embroidered onto the leather Capucine. SoHo will also offer the women’s “Star Trail Ankle Boot,” ($1,490) and the men’s white “Runaway” sneaker ($815) as a worldwide exclusive. The store will also sell the new women’s sunglasses called “The Party,” ($685) two months prior to their global launch date. In addition, the boutique will offer a special women’s cruise 2017 dress ($7,850), embroidered with green sequins. From the Men’s Universe, SoHo will be the only store in North America to offer a men’s spring 2017 Giraffe Chambray shirt ($850). The shirt has a knit collar and sleeve bottoms.

Olympic sprint champion Florence Griffith Joyner died after suffering an epileptic seizure, according to autopsy results released Thursday, and her family and friends say they hope the findings will put to rest rumors that drug use contributed to her death. Griffith Joyner died last month in her sleep at age 38. Her husband, Al Joyner, bitterly criticized those who suggested that she took performance-enhancing drugs. "My wife took the final, ultimate drug test," Joyner said, choking back tears during a brief news conference after the release of the autopsy. "And it's what we always said: There's nothing there. So please, please, give us time to grieve and just let my wife rest in peace." The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner's office found that the only drugs in her system when she died were small amounts of the over-the-counter painkiller acetominophen and the antihistamine Benadryl, which is sometimes used as a mild sedative. Griffith Joyner's epileptic seizure lasted from minutes to less than hour, said Dr. Richard I. Fukumoto, the county's chief forensic pathologist. Such seizures rarely lead to death, medical experts noted. In Griffith Joyner's case, the seizure apparently caused her to be suffocated by her bedding. Griffith Joyner was one of 25% of the population to have a congenital weakness of a blood vessel in the brain, called cavernous angioma, said Dr. Barbara Zaias, a forensic neuropathologist with the coroner's office. She said 10% to 15% of those people suffer from seizures. In most instances, though, the condition doesn't cause problems, and many people live their lives unaware of it. Other times it may cause headaches, bleeding or seizures, Zaias said. Fukumoto said he knew of nothing in the medical literature that showed this condition could be brought on by using performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids. Charles Yesalis, an expert on performance-enhancing drugs at Penn State, said the autopsy would not definitively show whether Griffith Joyner ever used steroids or human growth hormone. The most long-lasting steroids leave the body within a year, he said, and Griffith Joyner retired from competition nearly a decade ago. Griffith Joyner had suffered a seizure previously, during a flight from Los Angeles to St. Louis in 1996, and she was hospitalized briefly. After her death, her brother said it was the result of stress. On Thursday, the Joyner family and coroner's doctors declined to take questions about the athlete's medical history. Zaias said a cavernous angioma might show up during sophisticated imaging tests, such as an MRI or a CTI, but even then it might stay hidden. The day she died, Griffith Joyner's husband called paramedics from their Mission Viejo home at about 6:30 a.m. and said his wife was not breathing. Joyner told investigators when he had last checked on his wife at 1 a.m. she was sleeping. Coroner's office officials said Griffith Joyner had a healthy heart. Griffith Joyner died almost 10 years after winning the 100-meter gold medal, the first of three she won in the 1988 Olympics. She later won the 200 meters and was a member of the teams that won the 400-meter relay and came in second in the 1,600-meter relay. She became the first woman to win four medals in track at one Olympics and still holds the world record in the 100--10.49 seconds. Because of her muscular build and dominance of the sport, Griffith Joyner came under suspicion for using steroids or human growth hormones, but she never failed a drug test. The Olympic champion credited her success to a new diet and extensive weightlifting. Bill Hybl, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, issued a statement in support of Griffith Joyner after release of the autopsy results. "We now hope that this great Olympic champion, wife and mother can rest in peace, and that her millions of admirers around the world will celebrate her legacy to sport and children every day," Hybl said. "It is time for the whispers and dark allegations to cease." The events that caused Griffith Joyner's death started with the cavernous angioma in the portion of the brain called the cortex, above the left eye, which developed while she was a fetus, Zaias said. The cortex is the portion of the brain associated with language, speech and cognitive processes. The condition meant that within an oval of about an inch there were several empty spaces that filled with blood, Zaias said. The angioma irritated brain cells, causing nerves to misfire and bringing on at least one seizure. Because she was sleeping face down, the seizure would have caused her head to turn to the right, which, combined with her getting caught in the bedding, obstructed her air passageway and caused her to suffocate. Fukumoto said if someone is is suffering a seizure, you should try to keep their airway open and "let the person go through the seizure activity." About 2.5 million people in the United States have epilepsy, a term that covers a spectrum of neurological disorders characterized by recurring seizures. The seizures range from so mild they are hardly detectable to grand mal episodes in which muscles forcefully contract and the body goes rigid. Contrary to widespread belief, epilepsy is most often diagnosed in adulthood, with 70% of the 125,000 new cases each year involving people over 18, according to the Epilepsy Foundation of America. The roots of the problem lie in disruptions of nerve function in the brain, and in most cases the reason is unknown. However, in 30% of cases a tumor, viral infection or other factor is identified as the trigger. An expert on the disorder emphasized that it was "extraordinarily rare" for a person with a diagnosis of epilepsy to die of suffocation as a result of a seizure. "This is a distinctly unusual complication of an epileptic seizure," said Dr. Michael Risinger, acting director of the Stanford Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. Researchers are not certain exactly how the malformation, which can be inherited or arise during development, can induce epilepsy, he added. But the risk of seizures is increased when the vessel leaks blood, Risinger added. Times medical writer Terry Monmaney and Times staff writers David Reyes and Mike Penner contributed to this story. For the Record Los Angeles Times Tuesday October 27, 1998 Home Edition Sports Part D Page 2 Sports Desk 2 inches; 52 words Type of Material: Correction Olympics--Florence Griffith Joyner, who died last month, was one of two women to have won four medals in track and field in the same Olympics. Fanny Blankers-Koen of Holland won the 100- and 200-meter sprints, the 80-meter hurdles and anchored the victorious 400 relay team in the 1948 Olympics in London. Griffith Joyner was identified as the only four-medal winner Friday.

you, what do you do? basically anything artistic, but with a primary focus on film. musical artists would be involved? "Spacious Thoughts" a small peice of my brain exploded. Then when they sent the track I was absolutely just ecstatic. Shepard Fairey, etc.. and panic set in. So we had to step it up in every way. bouncing, spherical ball critter. How did these beings take form? 3d character and it would force us to rethink how we approach everything. changed the overall design adding more to it and streamlinig other aspects. quick pop of Kool Keith and the growl and bark of Tom Waits. through a little of the "making of"? also teaches at Savannagh college of art and design. explain 3d 2d vector hand drawn particle etc. you name it, we did it. This was the longest production we've ever done. BB: What do you love most, and hate most, about animation? go faster, but we like the control we have over every frame. BB: Favorite part of this project? and will want to watch it over and over again.

Julie Dash won this inaugural award after screening the 25th anniversary edition of her film, “Daughters of the Dust,” originally filmed in Beaufort in 1991. The award was presented by Michael Boulware Moore, great-great-grandson of Robert Smalls. According to Dash’s website, the filmmaker “broke through racial and gender boundaries” with the film, which won for best cinematography at Sundance Film Festival. She went on to write and direct for CBS, BET, Encore Starz, Showtime, MTV movies and HBO. “Saturn Returns,” directed by Shawn Tolleson of Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada, was named the best feature of the festival. According to her biography on the Women in Film and Television Vancouver website, this film won first place in the Mountain Film Festival, as well. Tolleson began her career as an actress and has since worked as a director, writer and producer. Peter Miller’s “Robert Shaw: Man of Many Voices” won best documentary for the festival. This Atlanta man also has worked on films such as “AKA Doc Pomus,” “Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story” and “Sacco and Vanzetti,” which was shown all over the world, according to the “Robert Shaw” film website. Miller also has produced several PBS series. “Most of my films deal with the effects of losing something special and the consequences that occur when one doesn’t let go,” Martiz wrote on the page. “Long John,” directed by Joe Bellavia of Rochester, N.Y., won for best comedy. The film’s trailer on Vimeo shows a young man made “miserable” by a cold winter. The long underwear brings him relief from the cold but becomes a little awkward in his dating life. Gavin Lankford’s “Splash” stood out for best animation at the festival. The University of North Carolina School of the Arts student directed the animated short, which explored the “adventures at bath time” in which “bath toys band together to save themselves after being left behind” by a little boy, according to the school’s website. Bernard Smith’s “Robert Smalls’ Great Escape” was awarded best screenplay for the festival. This is the first entry into the festival focusing on Robert Smalls that has been accepted into the festival, The Beaufort Gazette previously reported. Rukiyat Masud of New York City won for best actress in the film “Children of the Mountain.” According to the film’s website, Masud was born and raised in Ghana and started acting after she graduated high school in 2010. She studied broadcasting and drama in college. While pursuing an acting career, she also is studying marketing and public relations at the Ghana School of Journalism. Thomas Torrey also won for best director for “Fare,” a film in which “a ride-share driver finds himself transporting the man who is secretly sleeping with his wife,” according to IMDb. Festival audiences chose “Almost Paris,” directed by Domenica Cameron Scorsese for this award. The trailer for this film shows a man who has to move back home and lay down roots after losing his job on Wall Street. He reconnects with his family and makes a new connection with a woman he knew before he moved away. For more information on the festival, visit beaufortfilmfestival.com.

Prosecutors dropped charges Wednesday against Allen Edwards, 42, one of two men arrested in connection with an attack Sunday on an SUV driver who was swarmed by bikers on a New York City street. The office is not currently prosecuting Edwards as it continues to investigate the incident, said Erin Duggan, communications director for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. Edwards had originally faced charges of reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and menacing, the New York City Police Department said. The incident involving bikers went viral after a video of the incident surfaced online. The death toll from the five-story building collapse in Mumbai rose to 60 on Sunday, authorities said. Fearing they may have pulled out the last of the survivors, officials have now ended their rescue operation, said Sachidanand Gawde of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Thirty three people were pulled out alive from the building since it collapsed Friday. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will retire when his current term ends January 24, 2015, Major League Baseball said Thursday. Selig said that "it remains my great privilege to serve the game I have loved throughout my life." "Baseball is the greatest game ever invented, and I look forward to continuing its extraordinary growth and addressing several significant issues during the remainder of my term," he said in a statement. Selig, 79, has been full-time commissioner since 1998 after six years as the interim boss. Before that, he owned the Milwaukee Brewers after moving the Seattle Pilots in 1970. The game changed significantly during Selig's tenure as commissioner. Interleague play was instituted, teams that exceeded a salary threshold were penalized and the money shared with other teams, and the postseason was revamped several times to include division series and the Wild Card playoff contest. Umpires can now also use instant replay to review certain plays. MLB also grew. Two teams - the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Rays - joined. The Montreal Expos moved to Washington and became the Nationals. Other teams switched divisions and the Brewers changed leagues. There were low points, too, including MLB canceling the World Series in 1994 after a players' strike, and a long investigation into the use of performing-enhancing drugs in baseball that culminated in a 2007 report that led to congressional hearings. An appellate court has ordered a new trial for Marissa Alexander, a 31-year-old mother of three, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for firing a warning shot in an effort to scare off her abusive husband. Alexander unsuccessfully tried to use Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law to derail the prosecution, but a jury convicted her of aggravated assault after just 12 minutes of deliberation. The case gained the attention of civil rights leaders who say the African-American woman was persecuted because of her race. Oracle Team USA successfully defended the America's Cup yachting race Wednesday, completing a seemingly improbable comeback in the series of contests against Emirates Team New Zealand by winning the deciding 19th race. Oracle Team USA, which once trailed 8-1 in yachting's most prestigious competition, tied the series 8-8 Tuesday in San Francisco Bay to set up likely the most exciting finish in the 162-year history of the event. On Wednesday, the U.S.-based team won by 44 seconds to claim the title. Two victories for Oracle Team USA, bankrolled by billionaire Larry Ellison, were scratched off because it was deemed to have illegally tinkered with its boat prior to the finale. Two crew members who went missing when their helicopter went into the Red Sea on Sunday are believed to be dead, the U.S. Navy said Monday. Search and rescue efforts for the two, who were in a MH-605 Knighthawk helicopter, have been suspended, the Navy said. The sea lies between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Two people are in custody in connection with last week's shooting in Chicago, and a 3-year-old boy injured in gunfire remains in intensive care, authorities said Monday. The two are regarded as "persons of interest," police told CNN. The Chicago Tribune quoted police as saying no charges have been filed against the two, who are men. They say that "several people of interest" were being interviewed. An electric wiring problem likely caused the fire this month that damaged a massive swath of New Jersey's boardwalk, which had been freshly rebuilt after Superstorm Sandy wrecked it last October, authorities said Tuesday. An investigation ruled out human involvement in the fire, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said. A team of investigators agreed that a failure of electrical equipment and wiring under the boardwalk contributed to the blaze. The wiring was installed in 1970 and "compromised by Sandy floodwaters," investigators said. Filed under: New Jersey • U.S. A Catholic priest was attacked with acid on the east African island of Zanzibar in the third such unprovoked assault in two months, and remained hospitalized Saturday, the cleric told CNN. The Rev. Joseph Anselmo Mwagambwa said he was attacked Friday afternoon while coming out of an internet cafe in Mlandenge, a community in the city of Zanzibar. He was being treated in a hospital in the Tanzanian mainland city of Dar es Salaam. Police are still investigating, and no arrests have been made. More than half a foot of rain deluged Boulder County, Colorado, overnight, setting off flooding and rock slides that collapsed homes, put dams at risk and killed at least two people. One person died after being trapped in a collapsed building, in Jamestown, Boulder County spokeswoman Gabbie Boerkircher said. The circumstances surrounding the other death weren't clear early Thursday, but the Colorado Springs Fire Department said on Twitter that the body had been recovered by a "heavy rescue team." Numerous other buildings had collapsed, but it was unclear how many or if there were any other injuries, Boerkircher said. A rockslide was hampering access to the site. A new United Nations report affirms that both sides in the Syrian civil war have committed grave crimes in violation of international law. Government forces continue to attack civilian populations in what amounts to crimes against humanity, says the report by the U.N. Human Rights Council, which was released Wednesday. But anti-government groups, in their fight against President Bashar al-Assad, have themselves committed war crimes, including murder, torture and hostage-taking, the report states. As the fighting rages, "it is civilians who continue to pay the price for the failure to negotiate an end to this conflict," the agency said in a prepared statement. An iPad used to shoot video of a confrontation that allegedly erupted Monday between George Zimmerman and his estranged wife, Shellie, and her father might prove key in determining whether charges will be filed, police said Tuesday in Lake Mary, Florida. "Unfortunately, the iPad is in several pieces," police spokesman Zach Hudson told reporters about the device, which he said George Zimmerman had damaged. The incident comes two months after Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, was acquitted of second-degree murder in the shooting death in nearby Sanford of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old unarmed youth. Police have sent the pieces of the iPad for analysis, Hudson said. "We want to get all the information, the footage, off it." A roadside bomb hit a bus in Afghanistan's Ghazni province Tuesday, killing seven people and wounding 17 others, a provincial official said. Safiullah Ibrahimi, a spokesman for the governor of eastern Ghazni province, said insurgents planted the bomb. All of the casualties were men, he said. No women or children were hurt. An accident on a children's swing ride at a festival in Norwalk, Connecticut, on Sunday injured 13 children, some seriously, according to police. The ride "apparently lost power causing the children on the ride to forcefully fall to the ground," Norwalk police said on the department's Facebook page. Most of the injuries were minor, police said, but "several" were seriously injured, "including two which appeared to be the most serious." At least 49 inmates broke out of a prison in Tunisia on Sunday night, the country's state-run Tunis Afrique Presse reported. Security forces have detained 13 of the escapees, according to the report, which cited a security source. The incident occurred in Gabes, in the southeastern part of the North African country. It is the latest mass prison break in the turbulent Muslim world. Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy will stand trial on charges of incitement to conduct murder and "thuggery" relating to clashes near the presidential palace late last year, state-run MENA reported Sunday. The country's general prosecutor ordered Morsy to stand trial along with 14 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the news agency said. No date was given for the trial. Nelson Mandela has been discharged from the Pretoria hospital where he had been receiving treatment since June, the South African president's office said Sunday. He will continue his recovery at home. "Madiba's condition remains critical and is at times unstable," the president's office said. "Nevertheless, his team of doctors are convinced that he will receive the same level of intensive care at his Houghton home that he received in Pretoria."

It was the second week of Islam class, and the teacher, Mansur Seddiqzai, stood in front of a roomful of Muslim teens and pointed to the sentence on the chalkboard behind him: "Islam does not belong to Germany." Public schools in some of Germany's most populous cities are helping such students come up with answers in a counterintuitive setting: Islam class. The classes, taught by Muslims and intended for Muslim students, were first launched in the early 2000s and now are offered as electives in nine of Germany's 16 states, by more than 800 public primary and secondary schools, according to the research network Mediendienst Integration. They include lessons on the Koran, the history of Islam, comparative religion and ethics. Often, discussions shift to the students' identity struggles or feelings of alienation.

How Far is Sai Samarttha Saisha? Welcome to Saisha, an emerging gated community that offers a vast range of 1, 2 & 2.5 BHK residences amidst the peaceful green environs of Punawale. This extremely well-connected project is 10 minutes away from Hinjawadi and poised with lifestyle amenities that shall help you achieve the perfect work-life balance. Even as an investment, a home at Saisha shall offer steady appreciation as Punawale is already witnessing rapid infrastructural development. Building value in every sense, Saisha is your future home to be. Our family is essential to our wellbeing at both a personal and societal level. Families provide security, love & support and your home is the epicentre of it all. Nothing in this world compares to the feeling of coming back home after a long and stressful day. At Saisha, we offer you a host of amenities to keep you active and engaged with your dear ones. Experience a blissful state of wellbeing, and discover the vim and enthusiasm to face every new day with renewed energy. Life gives us some beautiful relationships and sometimes puts us through tuff times. Through every thick and thin, we emerge with bonds stronger that we could ever imagine. But we lose much of our precious time stuck in traffic and are drained by the time we are home. At Saisha, you are just a short drive away from Hinjawadi so you?ll never again have to worry finding time for family. Besides, you will always find a warm and cosy environment in and around your home for new relationships to flourish. Every residence is designed to be aesthetically appealing, but design or features alone are not enough to make it a home. Cosy little conversations with your beloved, dinner with family & friends and chasing down the tiny ones...When you imagine yourself doing these little things that give happiness in the home you seek, that?s when you know you?re making the right choice. At Saisha, every home is envisioned to let you create your special moments of happiness with memories that last for a lifetime.

Make no mistake about it, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice isn’t just a big movie, it’s an important movie. Warner Bros., DC Comics, Zack Snyder, and everybody else involved have a lot riding on this film’s success. So when the majority of reviews were...not good, it certainly had an impact. While most have tried to brush off the bad notices, Ben Affleck hasn’t said a thing. He doesn’t have to. His face says it all. Yesterday we talked about the different reactions that the cast had to the bad reviews, but we focused on those who said something. YouTube’s Sabconth, instead focuses on the look on Ben Affleck’s face when he’s told the reviews are "mixed." As the video points out, "mixed" is a generous response. The Rotten Tomato rating currently sits at 30%. Affleck lets Henry Cavill handle the response to the interviewer, and instead he just sits there. He’s no longer making eye contact with the interviewer or looking at Cavill while he speaks. He’s just staring off into space. The look on his face speaks volumes. I’m starting to feel bad on his behalf for all the bad reviews. And the worst part is, if there’s one person that shouldn’t be feeling personally responsible for the response, it might be Ben Affleck. While nothing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is being universally praised, Affleck’s portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman is generally being regarded as one of the film’s high points, even among reviewers that pan the film overall. Of all the different versions of the caped crusader that we’ve seen over the years, this one is truly unique. He has understandable motivations and goals that drive him. He’s certainly the darkest dark knight we’ve ever seen on screen. We’re not sure this self flagellation is deserved. Still, he’s obviously taking this all very seriously. It’s possible he’s remembering what he said about the pressure for the film to do well. The sad part is, this is true. Daredevil’s Rotten Tomato rating sits at 44%. If you’ve already seen Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice head over to our spoiler review section and let us know what you thought. Whether or not you liked the movie overall, should Ben Affleck be shouldering the responsibility? Does anybody else want to go in with me and send the poor guy a fruit basket or something?

Willen SM, Cohen R, Rodeghier M, Kirkham F, Redline SS, Rosen C, Kirkby J, DeBaun MR. Age is a predictor of a small decrease in lung function in children with sickle cell anemia. Am J Hematol. 2018 Mar; 93(3):408-415. PMID: 29226507. Willen SM, Rodeghier M, Strunk RC, Bacharier LB, Rosen CL, Kirkham FJ, DeBaun MR, Cohen RT. Aeroallergen sensitization predicts acute chest syndrome in children with sickle cell anaemia. Br J Haematol. 2018 02; 180(4):571-577. PMID: 29363738. Cohen RT, Klings ES. Commentary: Heterogeneity of respiratory disease in children and young adults with sickle cell disease. Thorax. 2018 Jun; 73(6):503. PMID: 29353255. Childs E, Laws MA, Drainoni ML, Nath A, Reid MJ, Sandel M, Cohen RT. Caring for Young Children with Asthma: Perspectives from Urban Community Health Centers. J Urban Health. 2017 Dec; 94(6):824-834. PMID: 28741283. Worsham CM, Martin ST, Nouraie SM, Cohen RT, Klings ES. Clinical and laboratory findings associated with sleep disordered breathing in sickle cell disease. Am J Hematol. 2017 12; 92(12):E649-E651. PMID: 28833466. Willen SM, Rodeghier M, Strunk RC, Rosen CL, Kirkham FJ, Field JJ, DeBaun MR, Cohen RT. Airway Hyperresponsiveness Does Not Predict Morbidity in Children with Sickle Cell Anemia. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017 06 01; 195(11):1533-1534. PMID: 28569575. Cohen RT, Rodeghier M, DeBaun MR. Reply: Decline of Lung Function in Children with Sickle Cell Disease Is Not Associated with Restrictive Defects. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017 Mar; 14(3):478. PMID: 28248586. Pongracic JA, Krouse RZ, Babineau DC, Zoratti EM, Cohen RT, Wood RA, Khurana Hershey GK, Kercsmar CM, Gruchalla RS, Kattan M, Teach SJ, Johnson CC, Bacharier LB, Gern JE, Sigelman SM, Gergen PJ, Togias A, Visness CM, Busse WW, Liu AH. Distinguishing characteristics of difficult-to-control asthma in inner-city children and adolescents. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016 Oct; 138(4):1030-1041. PMID: 27720017. Cohen RT, Rodeghier M, Kirkham FJ, Rosen CL, Kirkby J, DeBaun MR, Strunk RC. Exhaled nitric oxide: Not associated with asthma, symptoms, or spirometry in children with sickle cell anemia. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016 Nov; 138(5):1338-1343.e4. PMID: 27521278. Cohen RT, Strunk RC, Rodeghier M, Rosen CL, Kirkham FJ, Kirkby J, DeBaun MR. Pattern of Lung Function Is Not Associated with Prior or Future Morbidity in Children with Sickle Cell Anemia. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2016 Aug; 13(8):1314-23. PMID: 27300316.

A man accused of murdering a woman whose body parts were found in a suitcase in Peterborough will appear at the Old Bailey this week. Lithuanian Vytautas Jokubauskas, 57, of Mayor’s Walk, Peterborough, is charged with the murder of his 42-year-old partner, Ramute Butkiene. He will appear at The Old Bailey on Friday, September 4, for a plea and case management hearing. Jokubauskas is likely to face a two-week trial before 15 December at Cambridge Crown Court or the Old Bailey. Ms Butkiene’s torso was discovered at a property in Mayor’s Walk, in Peterborough, on the afternoon of Friday June 5 after neighbours complained about the smell. He has been held in custody since his arrest and charge on June 10.

2 Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Baalam against them, that he should curse them: but our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. 5 And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where formerly they laid the meat-offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests. 7 And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. 8 And it grieved me greatly: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber. 9 Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and thither I brought again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat-offering and the frankincense. 10 And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, had fled every one to his field. 11 Then I contended with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? and I assembled them, and set them in their place. 12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil to the treasuries. 13 And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah: for they were accounted faithful; and their office was to distribute to their brethren. 14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its offices. 15 In those days I saw in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day in which they sold provisions. 16 There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, who brought fish, and all manner of wares, and sold on the sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? 19 And it came to pass, that, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and I set some of my servants at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day. 21 Then I testified against them, and said to them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came no more on the sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites, that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. 24 And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews language, but according to the language of each people. 25 And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons, or for yourselves. 26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin. 27 Shall we then hearken to you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying foreign wives? 29 Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.

Terrin Waack allows Tommy Deas to take over this week's That's Just Waack since Deas will no longer be with The Tusaloosa News in a couple weeks. He has accepted a job at The Tennessean. So, in this episode, he explains his new position and reminisces on his time in Tuscaloosa.

Let's all say it together: Fred Mohs was right. Let's say it again: Fred Mohs is right. I began working on a series of posts on the downtown "homeless" issue over a month ago. This was just after civic leader Fred Mohs in early March suspended the First United Methodist Church's free Sunday parking in the ramp he owns until the church gets a better handle on the homeless vagrants they have attracted with great big gobs of guilt-free honey. That was another month after Joel Marino was stabbed to death January 28 in his home on Monona Bay, not far from Brittingham Park, the haunt of many juiced-up "homeless" people. Now we have the truly tragic death of a promising young scholar and lovely human being, Brittany Sue Zimmermann, age 21, in her apartment on West Doty Street on April 2. From early indications, her slaughter may have been at the hands of the predator population that city taxpayers are feeding and housing. All of which follows the March 2005 torching in downtown Madison. And then there are the countless incidents of threatening behavior, accosted citizens, vile language, and other befoulings of the public square. And I will have a lot more to say about this issue. This, Madison, is only the first salvo. Fred Mohs sounded the alarm back on downtown lawlessness just as Ald. Thuy Pham-Remmele did for the southwest side. Both alerted the larger city to crime and quality of life problems. For a while last summer and fall, the movement to take back the streets for people willing to obey the law and follow the rules seemed to leapfrog the downtown on its way to the northeast side. But now the debate has augured right into Progressive ground zero. The subject is the growing problem of single, homeless men, which constitute 42 percent of the total homeless population, according to the City of Madison Community Development Office. Let's not prettify our terms. I will call these men "vagrants" so as to distinguish them from young mothers with children fleeing abusive situations. Madison, celebrating the cult of victimization, has entitled these self-indulgent predators and shamed those who try to avoid or complain about the confrontations that degrade the downtown experience and, often, threaten the physical safety those who live, work or play there. I have said this before: all the Overture Centers, art galleries, trendy boites, upscale condos and cute trolley cars will grow tumbleweeds if people are afraid to frequent the public square. Before she left in March to visit her ailing mother, Ald. Thuy Pham-Remmele signaled that she will meet with Mohs to talk about major reform of the city ordinances and policies that seem to invite and enable deviant behavior. "This is a big issue. That is why I want to see Fred," she told me. Of the so-called homeless, "They are all over the place, creating nuisances. They are abusing the system." The fiery alder from District 20 is also trying to enlist the Chamber of Commerce, a notoriously timid organization, and the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau, asking "What is the purpose of bringing people to Madison" if they are afraid to walk the streets? Pham-Remmele criticized a $75,000 outlay to reach out to Madison's homeless, the Community Development Authority for "just handing out money," and the cornucopia of free food pantries. Homelessness, for many, "is a lifestyle choice," Thuy told me. "We are enabling them." She referenced troubles at the Downtown Madison Library and at the parks, especially Brittingham. The presence of permissive "homeless shelters" -- funded by well meaning Christians who drive to leafier environs and don't have to live with their consequences and staffed by so-called "service providers" -- does nothing more than create an attractive nuisance. Define the terms. The correct word for homeless man who does not work is "vagrant" and their condition is "vagrancy." Bring back the workhouse for single men. Change the definition so that new mission houses (as they are defined in city zoning ordinances) must require recipients to work a specified period of time for their cots and hots -- shoveling snow, sweeping sidewalks, picking up litter, scraping off graffiti. As in life itself, there is no free lunch in the City of Madison. Photograph and identify by Social Security number all recipients of homeless aid (including non-vagrant). Issue identification tags. Consider taking DNA samples if the "loss" of identity tags becomes habitual. Change the zoning ordinances so that all of Madison, not just the residentially zoned areas, must first seek and receive conditional use permits to serve vagrants. Those use permits will specify the conditions enumerated above. Increase visible police presence around shelters, especially around opening time. That includes cops walking the beat. Place remote-controlled cameras around those and other problem areas. Arrest anyone disturbing the peace; define the concept generously, adjudicate within 24 hours. Invoke an absolute ban on panhandling in all places at all times. In any event, never contribute. Sweep park shelters, boat houses, bus shelters, laundromats and other public places for trespassers. Arrest and remove occupants. Place those who cannot post bail in a work detail, under armed guard, to work off their cost of room and board. Hold these in a secure bunkhouse type of facility. Adjudicate within 48 hours. Those unable to pay their fine will work off their penalty. Wage a public outreach campaign to encourage citizens to report confrontations immediately. Encourage them to use pepper spray. Direct bus drivers, librarians, etc. that chief among their responsibilities is the duty to maintain order. Libraries are for reading, buses are not public pissoirs. Set aside a fund of several million dollars to litigate the inevitable nuisance suit filed by the ACLU. (The ACLU is now counseling children not to talk to their teachers about disciplinary matters without the presence of their parents.) Let them know the city's pockets are even deeper and they will not settle until the U.S. Supreme Court has decided, if necessary.

Gosper did not believe an annual league of nations would detract from the Rugby World Cup, the showpiece tournament held once every four years. " I think it would. The World Cup would merely see the 'league of nations' teams reaching the knockout rounds, with a few extra pool games thrown in. Further, the results of pool matches between those teams not in the top 12 would have little to no bearing on the outcome. It would be similar to the sevens. Sure, teams we don't see regularly between world cups are on display, but we all know which teams will be gunning for the championship in the end. *The second leg between northern and southern teams would take place in the existing July and November windows, *replacing the three-test tours that are now commonplace. Those three-test tours are for northern teams coming south only. This part I agree with. The northern tours, where southern teams play more than one opponent, are far more interesting. Personally I'd love to see northern teams playing away in the Pacific Islands. Unfortunately, such PI games wouldn't spin much cash, so I won't hold my breath. And where this money go? Because it doesn't come back to the grassroots clubs that do everything for the enjoyment of the sport.

Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., may have said last week that he doesn't think the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education will get done before the Obama administration's August deadline. But that doesn't mean he's not talking about his own plans for renewing the law. Kline appeared on Bill Bennett's "Morning in America" radio show this morning (yes, that Bill Bennett, the one who served as U.S. Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan). The House education committee chairman sketched out his plan for breaking the ESEA into smaller pieces. He said he'd like to get up to three smaller bills done over the summer, then tackle bigger issues, like accountability and teacher training, in the fall. And he talked up the panel's very first ESEA-related bill, which the committee will mark up tomorrow. It would eliminate 43 programs in the U.S. Department of Education, including some that lawmakers see as duplicative or not right for the federal government, and others that already have been defunded, haven't been funded in years, or were authorized but never got money. Kline also talked about the administration's signature education redesign initiative, Race to the Top. He said he's worried that the administration is using it partly to prod states to adopt common standards. States got extra points in the education redesign competition if they were part of a coalition working toward more uniform, rigorous standards, and the department gave out an additional $350 million to help states create more uniform assessments tied to those standards. With Race to the Top, "the federal government is starting to push a national curriculum," Kline said. "As you know, that's been against the law, and I think correctly so." UPDATE: Great analysis and information from Catherine Gewertz of Curriculum Matters fame here. Kline also gave a shout-out to his fellow Minnesotan Republican, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has a robust record on education and recenty declared that he's planning to run for president. Kline called Pawlenty a "really, really fine man" who has "taken on" teachers' unions to improve learning outcomes. And Kline gave more hints on where he stands on accountabilty. He praised the National Assessment of Education Progress, or NAEP, saying we need an "excellent tool" for student progress and comparing different states. And he said he'd like to see the continued disaggregation of student data by subgroups, such as students in special education. But he also said, "We do need some measuring stick out there, but we do not need the U.S. Secretary of Education telling us how to do the job." Want more? Full interview is here.

President Trump delivered the 2019 State of the Union address last night before a joint session of the 116th Congress. I watched the address, then surveyed coverage of it this morning. It is as if there were two different speeches delivered. None of this should surprise us. Who is neutral about the president? It seems difficult to find someone who is neutral about the president. The latest poll shows that 39.9 percent of Americans approve of the job he is doing, while 55.6 percent disapprove. Only 4.5 percent are undecided. Our divisions over the president reflect a growing partisan divide in our country. Pew Research Center asked more than five thousand people about several specific political issues and found that, on average, there was a thirty-six-point gap between Republicans and Democrats. This is up twenty-one points since Pew began tracking these questions twenty-three years earlier. In 1992, 37 percent of states with Senate races elected a senator from a different party than the presidential candidate supported by that state. In 2016, for the first time in a century, not a single state did so. There are many reasons for the political divisiveness of our day, from media bias to increasing diversity to polarizing leaders to cultural “bubbles,” in which we live near people like us and listen only to news sources with which we agree. But these issues, while real, reflect underlying divisions that have become foundational to our culture and are likely to persist for years to come. For followers of Jesus, these are spiritual issues that transcend political acrimony and presidential approval ratings. How do we speak redemptively to such a divisive day? In Center Church, Tim Keller distinguishes between “A” doctrines and “B” doctrines. “A” doctrines are biblical truths that many in the culture affirm. “B” doctrines are biblical truths that many in the culture reject. Keller suggests that our cultural engagement should typically begin with “A” doctrines as the foundation for introducing “B” doctrines. Paul’s message to the Areopagus in Acts 17 illustrates the difference. He quotes their poets’ affirmation that “in [God] we live and move and have our being” and “we are indeed his offspring” (v. 28). Their belief that God exists and created us is an “A” doctrine Christians share with most of humanity. The apostle then moves to their need for repentance and faith in the one whom God confirmed by “raising him from the dead” (v. 31). This is a “B” doctrine. For Greek philosophers steeped in the Platonic bifurcation between soul (good) and body (evil), it is unsurprising that “when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked” (v. 32a). However, “others said, ‘We will hear you again about this'” (v. 32b). And “some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them” (v. 34). “Dionysius the Areopagite” is believed by Greek Orthodox historians to have become the bishop of Athens and one of their most significant theologians. Of course, there are times when the Holy Spirit will call us to speak truth to power in confrontational ways. For instance, Peter began his defense before the Sanhedrin by stating, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree” (Acts 5:30). But Keller’s point finds consistent biblical illustration, as when Jesus began his conversation with the woman at the well by asking for water, then led her to living water (John 4). In responding to the divisive issues of our day, this A-to-B strategy may prove helpful. What common ground can you find with someone with whom you disagree? What common cause can you advance together? How can you earn the right to speak hard truth in grace? We’ll discuss practical ways to build such relationships in tomorrow’s Daily Article. For today, let’s decide that we want to. Will you “live in the light of eternity” today?

If you're in credit card trouble, you're not alone. Credit card debt is at an all-time peak, with the average American household carrying a balance of roughly $7,500 - $8,000. Consumer complaints are running high, too. If you are trying to solve your debt problem, or feel your credit-card company has treated you unfairly, several reputable organizations may be able to help you. » Before you take action, it's best to know the facts, and one of them is your credit rating. If you have a problem with your credit card, first try to resolve it directly with the store or the credit card company. The Better Business Bureau can act as an intermediary to help resolve your dispute, and it's easy to file a complaint online. Complaints are handled by the local Better Business Bureau where the company is located, not where you live -- so be sure you know where your credit card company is headquartered. If that doesn't work, you may want to file a complaint with your state's attorney general or banking agency. You may also file a complaint with the federal agency responsible for enforcing consumer credit laws for your credit card company. • Do you take cash advances to pay daily living expenses? • Pay important payments such as rent or mortgage late? • Borrow from one lender to pay another? • Sign up for other cards because I hit the limit on my current cards? • Transfer balances to new accounts to avoid paying off debt? • You may be able to solve your debt problem simply by managing your money a little more carefully. • Add up your debt to get a realistic picture of your financial situation. • Stop charging. Put away your cards. • Read your past few statements to see how you've been spending your money. Use the information to make a monthly budget and stick with it. • Look for areas where you can cut back, spending, and use that money to reduce your debt. Eat out less. Cancel your cable. Take the bus. Avoid late fees by paying your bills on time. Designed especially for college students and funded by MasterCard and the Consumer Federation of America, this Web site offers free downloadable tools that teach "responsible money and credit skills." In about 45 minutes, the package -- which includes a video and a PowerPoint presentation -- covers not only the fundamentals of credit but also basic budgeting, the difference between debit cards and credit cards, and more. Teachers and counselors may be interested in presenting the program to groups. Another MasterCard-sponsored resource for students, CreditTalk can help you obtain a credit report (and decipher what it says), create and manage a budget, calculate how long it takes to pay off a balance, and, in the worst case, deal with a debt crisis. There's also a glossary of financial terms and a list of links to credit counseling agencies. If you feel like your credit card company did you wrong, you'll find empathy here. Just reading one person's horror story ("Providian Raised My APR to 29.99%") may make you feel better, or possibly worse, if you're a Providian client. There's plenty of advice too, including tips on avoiding holiday debt and teaching kids the value of a dollar. And after you've learned something from the site, there's a chance to prove it with a section of quizzes. This Web site's motto is "Comprehensive. Objective. Free." All true, especially the "comprehensive" part -- there's everything from an advice column called "Ask Dr. Don" to a feature on why NFL tickets cost so much. Far more than a credit card site, Bankrate also covers mortgages, new and used car loans, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans, online banking fees, and unclaimed refunds from the Internal Revenue Service. If you're Canadian, you won't be needing that IRS info, but there's an entire section devoted to the finances of America's neighbors to the north. Credit cards, debit cards, smart cards, prepaid cards, ATM cards, loyalty cards, phone cards -- if it comes in plastic form, it's on this site. Some information is meant for industry insiders, but check out the consumer pages. There's a list of different incentives offered by each card such as discounts and airline upgrades, a section with the latest news stories on cards, and a free weekly e-mail newsletter. Jump$tart, funded by a grant from American Express and supported by donations from other financial organizations, offers instructional material on personal finance, largely intended for educational institutions. The Web site provides several resources, including a database of instructional material available from a wide spectrum of providers, contact information for guest speakers on personal finance, upcoming teacher training seminars, and a list of finance-related Web sites. PracticalMoneySkills.com is a free Web site designed to help teachers, parents, and students make better financial management decisions. It provides online resources, including free instructional material for classrooms, that teachers can use to educate students about personal finance. School districts, conference organizers or associations may request a presentation from a representative of the program, funded by Visa. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), an independent agency of the federal government, offers a training program designed for people unfamiliar with the financial industry. It provides education on important financial issues -- including credit, home ownership, loans, and consumer rights, among other topics. MoneySmart offers free videos of its educational programs to banks and other organizations interested in sponsoring financial education workshops for customers. NEFE provides funding, logistical support, and financial planning expertise to create personal finance programs and materials for the public. Educational programs offered by the organization focus on increasing financial literacy among the nation's youth. The organization offers instructional materials for its programs free of charge. NEFE, a nonprofit organization, also underwrites grants, fellowships, and research projects. Millions of Americans are mired in debt; here's where some of them come to talk about it. You'll have to register to get access to the bulletin boards and chat rooms, but the news ticker is available to all. The ABA Education Foundation provides resources to bankers, parents, and educators that teach adults and children about personal finance. The foundation offers booklets, CDs, brochures, videos and a newsletter to provide education about credit, banking services, credit card debt solutions and consumer protection, including easy-to-use online guides to prevent and resolve identity theft and other financial scams. This Web site is sponsored by the grassroots organization Citizens for Fair Credit Card Terms, Inc. (CFCCT). It offers ratings and customer reviews of over 1,000 credit cards. The passing of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACT Act) in 2003 established the Financial Literacy and Education Commission to improve Americans' financial literacy. Run by the Security and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Office of Investor Education and Assistance, the commission's Web site serves as a repository of links to educational materials from across the spectrum of federal agencies that deal with financial issues, including credit cards.

Last week, news broke that Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which ran for seven seasons from 1996 to 2003, is officially making a comeback with a reboot in development at Fox 21 TV Studios. Now showrunner/executive producer/writer Monica Owusu-Breen (Alias, Charmed, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) has already been pushed to respond to a fair amount of backlash. The new Buffy is expected to be more modern than its predecessor, but still take on the mythology of the original series. The producers told Deadline, “Like our world, it will be richly diverse, and like the original, some aspects of the series could be seen as metaphors for issues facing us all today." With Owusu-Breen at the helm and Whedon back as executive producer, it seems the new series will certainly do the original justice.

You've heard the stories of how flying with Emirates just get better and better as the airline updates it planes to pretty much blow customers' minds. But what's it's really like traveling in Business Class with the world's best airline? On a recent trip from New York to Dubai, I was upgraded from Economy, and seeing as it's a 12-and-a-half-hour journey, I was was very grateful. After flying a 14-and-a-half-hour journey to the States, I can tell you the difference is major, and I can see why people pay the extra to enjoy the perks of Emirates Business Class. One major difference to other airlines is that Emirates will send a car to take you to the airport on either end, so that removes the hassle of worrying your Uber will cancel. Emirates is also known for their beautiful lounges around the world; in New York they were in the middle of a refurbishment but gave us $40 meals vouchers to use anywhere on food and drink at JFK, which was pretty generous. As well as getting priority boarding, which includes a separate entrance to the aircraft than economy passengers, the benefits of Business are next level. Read on to see why it's true on the A388. I'm 5' 8" so you can imagine the teeny tiny spaces I've had to fit these pins into when it comes to public transport. Here I had so much space to stretch out and to my surprise was able to even wiggle my toes when the seat was in flat mode at bedtime. As if the seats aren't comfortable enough, cabin crew will come around to add a mattress for a guaranteed blissful sleep. The seat positions can be adjusted to various positions by pushing a button, as can the window blinds. A trip to the bathroom supplies passengers with everything you can think of, including a dental kit with quality toothpaste that's not made for people the size of a Borrower. There are also washcloths, combs, full-size Bulgari fragrances and sanitary products. Aside from the lounge where passengers can stretch their legs and grab a drink from the barman (make mine and Old Fashioned), soft drinks are kept in a personal mini bar by the seat. The great part is I didn't have to constantly stow away my tray table to get in and out of the seat, like I would in Economy, because as well as the huge table which slides out, there's a separate side table to rest belongings. It's a good thing too as the bubbles are constantly flowing from keen crew who refer to Business passengers by name. Firstly, you get real plates and the size of the meal is more substantial. A vegan lunch could be quinoa with a bread roll, then on top of this, crew brings around all sorts of exotic hot bread for passengers to fill up on. Other tasty light dishes include salmon and cream cheese rolls with asparagus. Mains might be a comforting fish and potato dish or substantial seafood and rice, the options are there depending on your appetite. And you could really gain several pounds just from sitting on the flight. It continues with sweet dessert options, cheese plates and port, plus a range of snacks passengers can order at any time. Practically any classic cocktail I could imagine was listed on the menu and the wine list was pretty impressive too. I found myself wondering how they managed to fit all of those options on the plane. If, like me, you like to so several things at once, you'll appreciate the separate detachable small screen that lives by the mini bar. It allows you to select from the same offering as the big screen so at one point I was using my laptop, watching a movie and checking where were were in the world on three separate screens. Wait, four. I was obviously snapping away on my mobile phone too. Don't worry, there were plenty of international power outlets for me to charge my devices. So aside from the super private experience you get when flying Emirates Business Class, thanks to the partitioned seating, now you know why everyone makes such a big deal about doing it. I for one, don't know how I'll ever go back.

Wow, we sure like our sugar. After all, what’s not to like? Imagine that it’s the end of a long, hard day. You get home and put on your favorite TV show, kick your feet up, and dig in to a bowl of your favorite ice cream covered in an assortment of decadent toppings. And, for millions of us, that mid-day candy bar is just a regular part of life. Let’s face it ,our favorite sugar-laden goodies are just flat out pleasing, comforting, and of course delicious! Sugar satisfies one of our favorite desires: instant gratification. We love sugar; we crave it. It’s just plain good. That said, there’s not a single one of us who doesn’t know that sugar, especially in excess, is bad for us. It’s terrible for our teeth, destroys our mood, makes us gain weight and severely alters our overall blood chemistry. We have to admit that sugar simply ruins our health. Naturally, we continue to indulge our sugar obsession, despite the detrimental consequences of eating sugar. We can all agree life is too short not to enjoy our favorite dessert, right? Lots of things are bad for us, so what’s the big deal? If enjoying sugar means an extra few pounds around my midsection, then I guess that’s okay, right? Some of us think that, maybe, if we just watch our sugar intake a little and not go too crazy, then we’ll be able to enjoy the good of sugar and, maybe, the bad of sugar won’t really affect us too much. When it comes to sugar, most of us are willing to take the good with the bad because we want to have our cake and eat it too. By now, most of us have been bombarded by endless antisugar messages. There are always new studies on how sugar adversely affects our health, our kids’ attention spans, and the obesity problem that seems to be getting worse by the year. No matter what anti-sugar messages we read, see and hear, we simply refuse to give up our beloved sugar. However, there is a new and powerful message coming out from the scientific community about sugar, and whether it’s time for us to give it up. Sugar is making you ugly! What? Yes! Excess sugar in our bodies is now being revealed as one of the most damaging elements to our appearance. As it turns out, these sweet little sugar molecules are leading a double life. After they pass over our taste buds and give us that amazing sugar buzz, these appealing friends of ours change their personalities and go on a seek-and-destroy mission. In a process called glycation, excess sugar in the blood stream in reality attacks the proteins throughout our bodies. As a matter of fact, these sugar molecules attach themselves to proteins – much like a parasite. Once bonding happens, that particular protein becomes glycated; or, in other words, sick. A recently glycated protein becomes misshapen, hardened, does not function correctly ,and excretes exotoxins that affect surrounding proteins. After the glycation process has run its course, the protein is referred to as an Advanced Glycation End Product, or A.G.E. for short. A real-world example of glycation in action is the browning and hardening process when placing a piece of bread in the toaster. This is where the ugly part comes in. Our skin is essentially one giant protein suit that covers us and protects all of our inner workings from the outside world. Most people are aware that the main protein in human skin is collagen, the proteins of which are very long lasting. They have a half-life of approximately 15 years and are not immune to the effects of glycation. Just like other proteins, when collagen becomes glycated, that protein is now considered an A.G.E. Like others, collagen proteins become misshapen, hardened, brittle, and excrete exotoxins. While you can’t see the effects of most proteins in your body when they become glycated, the effects of glycation on skin proteins becomes very evident. Essentially, every visible sign we attribute to aging skin – including wrinkles, fine lines, discoloration, sagging, uneven skin tones, stress, loss of elasticity, etc. – can all be attributed to the process of glycation. Glycation becomes more evident in your appearance when sugar molecules attack the surface proteins on the fine capillaries of your skin. This process causes your capillaries to leak, causing what we recognize as spider veins. The same process can happen in the under-eye area, which we recognize as dark circles. The most demoralizing aspect of glycation is the fact that once a protein has become glycated, or is now considered an A.G.E., the damage is permanent. Glycation is an additive effect and probably begins as soon as we’re born, affecting us throughout our lifetime. It seems a little unfair. In most cases, if I give up a certain vice, then my body, given enough time, will generally recover. If I start eating a better diet, I’ll most likely lose weight and be healthier. If I give up smoking, in most cases, my lungs, heart and blood pressure can return to normal. Nevertheless, once your proteins have been glycated, you’re pretty much out of luck. The damage has been done – end of story. Well … almost. You see, if you go online right now and do a search on the process of glycation, you will read much of what you’ve read here, including the fact that once a protein has become an A.G.E., it’s irreversible. Recent studies have shown some promising discoveries that may allow us to not only help prevent further damage from glycation, but also help affected proteins return to their normal state, function and appearance! Powerful new and topically applied serums have shown the remarkable ability to help block the glycation process and break the bond between the sugar molecules and the protein affected. In a recent clinical trial conducted in France, 500 women were treated with a serum derived from a naturally occurring plant extract. At the end of the 60-day trial, the 500 women appeared an average of eight to 10 years younger. No doubt a whole new category of anti-glycation treatments will soon be available in the marketplace. Based on projections, anti-glycation products will become as popular as the anti-oxidants, sunscreens, and moisturizers of today. For a detailed description of how glycation ages your skin and how you can stop and even reverse the process, go to http://www.controlyourage.com/.

If delisted, Marrone could find a home on a less-prestigious exchange. A maker of environmentally friendly pesticides, Marrone disclosed the auditing problem last fall. The company later said some former employees had misled management about certain sales transactions. Disclosure of the audit problems has sent Marrone’s stock price tumbling. The shares closed Thursday at $2.13, up 17 cents.

The 2nd Annual Firebird 5K will benefit charity: water, a non-profit organization that brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. One hundred percent of proceeds will be donated to the charity. This 5K will feature the options to race independently, as a family, or as a relay team that will carry Jerry Cans from start to finish. The Firebird 5K will begin and end at 1611 McKinney Avenue and go through Uptown Dallas and the Katy Trail. Food and drinks will be served after the race.

PHOTOS: Do you remember Marchwood Carnival? SCHOOLS and other groups in Marchwood took to the roads for another top notch carnival. Five huge lorries, Trigger the Train and a parade of smaller vehicles, top-of-the-range motorbikes and scores of walkers lined up at Southampton Football Club’s Staplewood training ground and headed off to the Lloyd Recreation Ground. The high standard of the floats that took part on July 11, 1998, meant a close-run thing for the top spot. But it was the elaborate and colourful Camelot theme of Marchwood Infant School that won the day.

NEW YORK — Donald Trump enthusiastically emerged from a lengthy meeting with black pastors in New York City Monday, defiantly dismissing criticism from some in the African-American community that he is espousing racist rhetoric. “I saw love in that room. I see love everywhere I go,” Trump told reporters with characteristic bombast in an impromptu press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan. Flanked by black religious leaders supporting his candidacy, Trump claimed there were more than 100 people in the two-and-a-half hour meeting, and that he expected “many, many endorsements” to come. The billionaire real estate mogul also told CNN he did not make commitments to make financial contributions to the churches represented by the black leaders he met with. Darrell Scott, the organizer of Monday’s meeting, said a formal endorsement was forthcoming. Monday’s meeting was at the source of much controversy — and confusion. But several black pastors invited to the gathering quickly rebutted the endorsement talk. This forced the cancellation of the planned press conference and left Trump in an awkward spot. Asked at the press conference to address Black Lives Matter movement, Trump said he had no interest in going there. Not everyone attending Monday’s meeting was supportive of Trump. Arriving at Trump Tower, some even shared their deep concerns about the candidate’s rhetoric, particularly about race and immigration. Pastor Victor Couzens of Cincinnati, who attended Monday’s meeting and is not endorsing Trump, said the candidate owed the Black Lives Matter protester an apology. He also expressed reservations about what he considers Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric. But plenty of attendees showed enthusiastic support for Trump, saying Trump has been villainized by his critics and some in the media. “You want stories, you want controversy. Anybody who knows Donald Trump personally knows that he’s not a racist,” said Steve Parson, a black pastor from Richmond, Virginia. Parson said he was in “total support” of Trump. In an op-ed in EBONY magazine published Friday, pastors, seminary professors and Christian activists critical of Trump asked the group backing the candidate to consider the impact that endorsing him could have on their congregations. “By siding with a presidential candidate whose rhetoric pathologizes black people, what message are you sending to the world about the black lives in and outside of your congregations? Which black lives do you claim to be liberating,” the leaders wrote. CNN’s Tom Lobianco, Eric Bradner and Noah Gray contributed to this report.

This might be some of strangest news I've seen in a while, but apparently the world's smallest volcano has been discovered in the forests of southern Colombia. A group of scientists from the Universidad de Bolivar in Pasto were studying the habits of some of the ubiquitous leaf cutter ants when they stumbled across a tiny volcano in the middle of their field area. The lead scientists, Dr. Fernando Valenzuela was stunned by the tiny volcano: "it couldn't have been more than 3 cm tall, but it even had its own little plume!" The scientists have dubbed the volcano La Pequeñita and local Colombian authorities have set up a 10 cm exclusion zone around the volcano. They quickly brought in a team of volcanologists who were working on Galeras. Dr. Jake Peralta was equally surprised by the discovery: "I've never seen anything like this. It looks like any other arc volcanoes I've studied, but it fits in the palm of your hand ... not that I'd pick it up based on the ash plumes and pyroclastic flows I've observed." Peralta and his colleagues will continue to study the volcano to figure out how it can operate on such a small scale ... and whether it means a larger volcano will follow as this one grows. "The biggest question is where is this magma coming from for La Pequeñita. The volcano appears to be on the side of a log, so we might be seeing an entirely new way to form volcanoes from decaying trees." The group has submitted an abstract for the upcoming EGU meeting on their work at La Pequeñita.

A large body of research shows that emotional experience improves with age. People are slower to show anger and more prone to see silver linings. They solve emotionally charged conflicts more effectively and are more likely to forgive and forget. So the prospect of millions of baby boomers entering a stage in life that brings wisdom and emotional balance has many researchers excited about the possibility that they will, as they enter their final years, build a better world. After all, not only are boomers distinguished by their numbers, which will intensify their impact on society, but they are also different from earlier cohorts of aging Americans: going gently into that good night doesn't appeal to a generation that, in its youth, wanted to start a social revolution. But a sobering finding has emerged from the Stanford Center on Longevity's Sightlines Project. We tracked six age cohorts across historical time on variables that predict length and quality of life. The study is based on analyses of eight nationally representative, high-quality, multiyear studies involving more than a million Americans over two decades. The Sightlines Project monitors the percentages of Americans in each age group who are doing well in areas critical to long-term well-being. Instead of comparing younger people with older people, Sightlines compares people today with people who were the same age 15 to 20 years ago. In this way, we produce a dynamic snapshot of trends, for better and for worse. There is ample evidence that social engagement has positive effects on health and longevity. Social isolation is as strong a risk factor for early mortality as cigarette smoking. Which makes the findings about social engagement among boomers startling. The 55-to-64-year-olds just about to join the ranks of the elderly are far less socially engaged now than their predecessors were at the same age 20 years ago. And this pattern emerged across virtually all traditional measures of social engagement: Boomers are less likely to participate in community or religious organizations than were their counterparts 20 years ago. They are less likely to be married. They talk with their neighbors less frequently. And it doesn't stop with participation in communities and neighborhoods: boomers report fewer meaningful interactions with their spouses and partners than did previous generations, and they report weaker ties to family and friends. Should we be worried about these trends? Possibly, though the portrait sketched by the Sightlines data generates hypotheses rather than definitive answers. It is possible, for example, that boomers, especially women, are working longer, which offers its own kinds of social connection. Another possibility is that they are interacting in nontraditional ways, using social media and participating in global communities, though this is unlikely to fully explain the phenomenon, given that many boomers remain digitally averse. But it is also possible that patterns of social disengagement reflect the price that boomers will pay for having rejected family values and traditions many years ago. Boomers are, after all, the most divorced generation in history. Whatever the reasons, the sheer size of this generation means that these behavioral changes may endure for those that follow. The findings are especially intriguing since this is the generation that proclaimed that the world should have higher standards and sparked great changes in our society in order to realize them. If boomers bow out, a very different scenario may unfold. Specifically, their health may suffer as they withdraw from meaningful engagement. But if they stay engaged as they age, boomers may spark a second social revolution. This revolution wouldn't look like the revolution imagined back at Woodstock; there would be far less chanting in the streets. Instead, boomers could become an army of millions of gray-haired people, better educated than any previous generation, armed with unprecedented financial resources and decades of experience, ready to solve the practical problems of life. This revolution could finally help the nation become a better place for young people. As Marc Freedman, the CEO of Encore.org, says, "Maybe we can stop trying to stay young and instead rally to help people who actually are." Now wouldn't that be a fitting legacy for the Woodstock generation?

A chart showing the increase in the frequency of highly amplified jet-stream patterns, which scientists believe is related to extreme weather events. Findings from a new Rutgers University climate change study support previous research that shows a link between the rapidly warming Arctic and an increase in extreme weather events. Using self-organizing maps – statistical tools to help identify characteristic patterns in a data set – Rutgers climate scientists Jennifer Francis and Natasa Skific studied 48 years worth of daily atmospheric information to detect weather patterns that occur repeatedly. The patterns they found validated previous study findings that the polar jet stream has been meandering more north and south in the past two decades rather than traveling in a relatively straight path. Scientists are studying the relation of changing jet stream patterns and Arctic warming to extreme weather conditions. “When the jet stream has large northward bulges (called ridges), strong Arctic warming intensifies the ridge, causing it to become more persistent,” Francis said. These large waves have become more frequent in recent years and many studies, including these two from Rutgers, link them to extreme weather events, such as the severe cold spells in the northern hemisphere this winter, the enduring drought in the west, and major storms like Hurricane Sandy in 2012. “The analysis we just did with the self-organizing maps revealed that, yes indeed, we see the wavy jet stream patterns are becoming more amplified,” Francis said. That, Francis said, is contributing to the extended drought problems in California and other western states, as well as the persistent snowy weather patterns in the Northeast this winter. “When those ridges get stronger, they become much more persistent,” she said. The study notes that while it is difficult to say with certainty that the Arctic’s amplified sensitivity to temperature change is the cause of any specific extreme weather event, “these are the types of phenomena that are expected to occur more often as the world continues to warm and the Artic continues to lose its ice.” In the past 30 years, the volume of Arctic sea ice has declined by about 60 percent.

Last night Cowboys star-receiver jumped on Twitter to announce to the world that he is now an official member of the Jordan Brand Team. MJ's carefully selected roster has been killing it on the turf the last few seasons with its own unique models and player exclusives made specifically for Sundays on the field. It's been a minute since America's Team has landed such a big sneaker endorsement, we have a feeling JB will have something great cooked-up for Bryant's season debut at Cowboy Stadium when the season rolls out.

DENVER — The Denver Zoo’s lion cubs Sango and Sabi are ready for Halloween a day early. The cubs played with a pumpkin in the zoo’s Predator Ridge exhibit Wednesday. It was the first time many guests got to see Sango, a 1-year-old male cub from Lufkin, Texas’ Ellen Trout Zoo. On Halloween day, zoo guests are invited to watch elephants squash massive pumpkins at the Toyota Elephant Passage exhibit at 11:30 a.m. The two pumpkins, estimated to weigh around 400 and 500 pounds each, are a donation from Brian Deevy, a giant pumpkin hobbyist. For more information, visit: www.denverzoo.org.

Wood is the future. That’s the feeling you get after looking through the 2016 award winners named by WoodWorks, the United States wood building council. All of these structures are made from wood, but not the traditional two-by-fours you’re thinking of. These buildings make use of innovative new materials like glued-laminated timber (glulam) and cross-laminate timber (CLT), both of which are gaining in popularity. They’re part of a family of materials named mass timber, where wood is cut, stacked, and glued to make a strong material even stronger. It’s cheaper, performs better in earthquakes, and is far more sustainable than most building methods out there now. It’s also made here in the US—most mass timber products come from Southern Oregon. For a good example of how the new wood works, take the top photo here from a project named Framework, an office tower in Portland, Oregon. From the street you might not notice any difference between this building and its century-old neighbors. But instead of masonry walls, the building is almost entirely composed of Douglas fir glulam. And that wood is left exposed for a stunning effect. That’s the real beauty of wood—it doesn’t need to be covered up. WoodWorks picks the best buildings that are using wood in non-residential applications so you can see how architects employ these materials on a larger scale. The hope is that by showcasing wood in such versatile designs, wood will become the material of choice for more and more architects down the road. This five-story building is part of a new wave of wood buildings in the Pacific Northwest. PATH is now working on the tallest wood frame structure in the US, also in Portland. A public pavilion created for Chicago’s Architecture Biennial was the first project to use CLT in the city. If a firehouse uses wood, that should tell you something about the material’s safety and resilience, right? In fact, mass timber burns much slower than many other building materials. Wood is not allowed for many applications due to antiquated Seattle building code. But this project was able to get an exemption because of the proven fire-resistance of mass timber, paving the way for more projects. The roof is made from sheets of bamboo that act as sunscreens. The roof of this structure is covered with solar panels, and the concrete floor offers radiant heating, to make it an incredibly efficient building. The affordability of wood makes it an ideal candidate for budget-minded projects like schools. The basket-weave of Aspen’s art museum not only protects from solar gain during the sunny summers; it’s also an effective tool for shouldering snow accumulation in the winter. Architect: Shigeru Ban Architects; Structural Engineer: KL&A, Inc.; General Contractor: Turner Construction; Photo: Greg Kingsley, KL&A Inc. Another great application for wood: Museums, where heavy use from visitors only adds to the patina of the wood. Local cedar was sourced from nearby forests and made into affordable plywood for this park facility.

Remember HTC’s Vive Trackers? They’re a great little peripheral that allows you to bring a variety of objects into VR by fitting them with this puck-shaped marker. But, as cool as they are, we haven’t seen a lot of games embrace the Trackers. Fit It wants to change that. This new game from a team of three developers has a simple, brilliant premise; using three Trackers for the same kind of full body tracking seen in games like Island 359, you move your body to fit holes in gradually approaching walls. It’s pretty simple stuff; does the hole fit a press up position? Better get down on the floor. Standing with one leg out? Best practice your balance. It’s a concept now seen in a lot of TV game shows, but Fit It promises to bring that experience into the home. The gamer will feature both a Classic mode with different difficulties and an Infinite mode in which walls won’t stop approaching. It looks like great fun, though we don’t know many people with enough Trackers to accommodate it. To that end, the team’s Lukas Litinskas explained that they were implementing mode modes that would support play without Trackers and headsets other than the Vive. Fit It is coming to Steam Early Access on October 16. At launch, it will require a 2 meter-by-2 meter play space and only work with Vive. Expect wider accessibility options to roll out after that.

London: Oil prices rose 4 % in choppy trading on Wednesday, but concerns remained about rising crude production and weakening global economic growth which could hurt demand for oil. Brent crude futures rose $2.38 to $56.18 a barrel, a 4.4 % gain, by 11:27 a.m. EST (1627 GMT) after earlier falling as low as $52.51. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $2.09 to $47.50 a barrel, a 4.6 % gain, after sinking to $44.35. “Given the high levels of price volatility we’ve witnessed over the last month, a $2 daily move isn’t really anything other than signs we continue to have price volatility," said Gene McGillian, vice president of market research for Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. Oil futures were buoyed by some gains in US stocks, with the Nasdaq Composite turning positive after earlier losses. [.N] Crude futures have recently tracked stocks on Wall Street. However, disappointing manufacturing data from China earlier added to ongoing concerns about a slowing global economy and increased output out of countries like Russia.. China’s factory activity contracted for the first time in over two years in December, highlighting the challenges facing Beijing as it seeks to end a bruising trade war with Washington. “The manufacturing survey data out of China this week is particularly negative for crude oil, as it goes to the heart of the key demand center for the market," said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital Management in New York. Worries about an economic slowdown and excess supply dragged oil prices from multi-year highs reached in October 2018. Crude futures ended 2018 down for the first year since 2015. Russian production hit a post-Soviet record in 2018, figures showed on Wednesday. Other data showed US output reached a record in October and Iraq boosted oil exports in December. Earlier,Oil prices fell towards $53 a barrel on Wednesday, under pressure from rising output in major Opec and non-Opec producers and concerns about an economic slowdown that could weaken demand. Russian production hit a post-Soviet record in 2018, figures showed on Wednesday. Other data showed US output reached a record in October and Iraq boosted oil exports in December. Brent crude was 60 cents lower at $53.20 a barrel at 1422 GMT. On 26 December, it hit $49.93, the lowest since July 2017. US crude slipped 73 cents to $44.68. “The omens are far from encouraging," said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM, citing rising non-Opec supply and the likelihood of further increases in oil inventories. “The current bearish bias will therefore continue in the near term and it stands to reason that oil will struggle to break out from its current trough," he said. However, Nitesh Shah, director of research at WisdomTree, saw the prospect of a rebound for Brent because of an Opec-led supply cut that starts this month and moderating US supply growth. “We believe we will see an upward correction," he said. “Recent weakness in prices should slow the growth of US shale production." Oil prices fell in 2018 for the first year since 2015 after buyers fled the market in the fourth quarter over growing worries about excess supply and the economic slowdown. US President Donald Trump celebrated the low prices. “Do you think it’s just luck that gas prices are so low, and falling? Low gas prices are like another Tax Cut!" he wrote on his official Twitter account on Tuesday. Adding to concern about a slowing global economy, a series of purchasing managers’ indexes for December mostly showed declines or slowing manufacturing activity across Asia, the main growth region for oil demand. The signs of rising production illustrate the challenge facing the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its allies, including Russia, which are seeking to prop up the market with a supply cut of 1.2 million barrels per day. Reuters’s Henning Gloystein contributed to this story.

Congressman writes to Mark Zuckerberg: Why can you still buy guns on Facebook? I remain deeply concerned that gun sales on Facebook and Instagram — or sales posted online but negotiated and concluded offline — may circumvent or violate state and federal laws, resulting in numerous unlawful sales of handguns, assault weapons, and other firearms. We want all communities, whether online or offline, to be safe for their members. I continue to urge Facebook and Instagram to adopt safe business practices and prohibit postings for firearms sales.

A string quartet performs for a small audience at a Groupmuse concert. It was a Wednesday night in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, and 40 people—mostly millennials—sat cross-legged on a cramped living room, drinking craft beers and taking off their jackets to reveal the flannels underneath. Around 8pm, the introductions and recommendations for farmer’s markets died down, as Sam Bodkin stood to announce the night’s entertainment: two violinists, one cellist, and a violist playing selections of quartets by Haydn and Brahms. After meeting a group of young people studying at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Bodkin realized how much more powerful chamber music was when performed live. He was convinced that other young people would feel the same way, if it weren't for the prohibitively steep entrance cost to stuffy symphony halls. So in 2013, Bodkin started Groupmuse, a company that has hired over 1,200 young classical musicians to play small concerts in living rooms across the country. Each Groupmuse consists of two 25-minute sets of instrumental music: the first set is always from the classics, and the second is up to the performers. “We’ve had Dvorak and then string quartet arrangements of Guns and Roses, we’ve had Chopin on the piano and then Brazilian choro music,” says Bodkin. Professional musicians and those studying in conservatories can upload samples to a Groupmuse profile, which an internal team approves. Next, the Groupmuse team pairs performers with hosts who volunteer to host strangers and musicians in their home: a soloist for 10 people, a quartet for a house that can fit 50 listeners. Around 20 Groupmuse shows happen across the country every week, mostly in Boston, New York, Seattle and the Bay Area. Groupmuse suggests each attendee pays $10 for the show; musicians go home with an average of $160. For young classical musicians, the real benefit comes from playing live in front of a small audience. “It’s amazingly intimate,” says Jude Ziliak, a baroque violinist who has played on and off at Groupmuses since 2014. Ziliak, a 2013 Juilliard graduate who has also played at Alice Tully Hall and the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC, sees Groupmuse shows as a way to practice and hear feedback from listeners. “In 90% of concert environments, you’re elevated on a stage with dimmed lights, removed from listeners, without a sense of what people are experiencing,” he says. Not so much when a 15-person audience is sitting on a living room floor in front of you. For professionals like Ziliak, performing for listeners unfamiliar with classical music can be invigorating—and useful. “They don’t have the same preconceptions,” he says. “It’s more about collective appreciation of the music itself. There’s not the same ego involved in the performance.” A season ticket holder at the New York Philharmonic has a strong idea of what Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos should sound like; they’ve heard it before, both live and recorded by great musicians of previous generations. Many of the 25,000 people who have attended a Groupmuse recital don't know Schubert from Schoenberg—it’s all new. But the musicians aren't the only ones benefiting. Groupmuse audiences offer a demographic different from the usual Lincoln Center crowd: 70 percent of "musers" were born in the 1980s and ’90s. That's wildly attractive to organizations like the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, where half the audience is over 65. "All orchestras are concerned that once the older audience goes, they’re gone for good,” says Katherine Johnson, director of communications at the New York Philharmonic. “Bringing 30-somethings and 20-somethings into the concert hall—they’re the future.” Starting this month, Groupmuse has begun offering discounted tickets in partnership with both outfits, as well as other classical music institutions. If Groupmuse can serve as a point of entry, Bodkin hopes the partnerships can convert these new classical music enthusiasts into returning listeners. "Classical music and establishment venues shouldn't be on the margins," says Bodkin. "We can wake communities up to the cultural endowments all around them." First, you bring the violas to Williamsburg; then, you bring the flannels into Lincoln Center.

The U.S. Trade Representative, a cabinet-rank position, is the point person for coordinating and implementing U.S. trade policy and for conducting international trade negotiations with individual countries and multilateral institutions. Kirk, who has headed the agency since March 2009, was elected in 1995 as the first African-American mayor of Dallas. He left that job in 2001 in an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2002. Kirk has also been a partner in the international law firm of Vinson & Elkins. Kirk has been mentioned as a choice to fill the now-vacant post of Secretary of Commerce — and it was not clear whether he might be willing to stay if offered that job. The trade rep position is highly coveted in part because it has a focused mission and a small — around 200 or so — and highly professional staff. Probably doesn’t hurt — for those who value location — that the headquarters is across the street from the White House complex.

ONE of the county’s top tourist attractions is launching a new interactive adventure. SEA LIFE Brighton is inviting guests to unveil their inner superhero in the new Underwater Superheroes. Families will follow an engaging underwater trail through the centre on Marine Parade. It will be launched on Saturday and runs until March 17. General manager Max Levingston said: “We’re really excited to unveil our brand-new interactive adventure, Underwater Superheroes, at SEA LIFE Brighton. “This exciting trail is fun for the whole family and a great educational activity to experience together this half term. Customers will be challenged by SEA LIFE’s Super 5 subaquatic superheroes to see if they have the strength of a starfish or speed of a shark, amongst other surprising superpowers. Guests will face interactive challenges as they navigate from tank to tank, seeing if they can spot the invisible camouflaged octopuses, or match the power of a crab’s claw with a pinch of a resistance crunch bar. Along the route, kids will also learn about the amazing physical powers of the Super 5, starfish, sharks, octopuses, crabs and seahorses, and can even mirror their favourite hero with dress-up face masks. Trainee superheroes can add up their points from each Super 5 sea creature’s challenge to reveal their own hidden superpower. Once complete, heroes will be awarded with a limited-edition Underwater Superheroes pop-badge to prove their powers. Online tickets are available from just £11.50.

We are taught all of our lives to respond to emergency in the most helpful way possible way. Change your smoke detector batteries. Scream “fire!” as you leave a burning building. If you see something, say something. Yet, somehow, Ben Affleck has a giant phoenix tattoo on his back that looks like he went into a tattoo parlor and said, “You got colors? Use them all!” And his best friend, Matt Damon, didn’t do his one damn job. You know what Matt? I don’t know. Support an artistic expression like, say, oil paintings. Or even making another film like Downsizing. But when a friend suggests recreating one of those Lisa Frank binders from 4th grade on his back, you step in and suggest otherwise. That's what friends are for. The friends have been around the block together, with both of them landing their big break in 1997’s Good Will Hunting, cowritten by the duo and nominated for nine Oscars. Since then, both actors have gone on to have extremely successful careers in recent films like Gone, Girl and The Martian.

I don’t know what it is. I don’t know why it is. But in a month’s time, comic book stores will be getting a comic book called Teen Titans Go! To the Movies #1, cover price a dollar, from DC Comics, out on July 18th. It will be timed to coincide with the Teen Titans Go! cartoon movie out on the 26th July in the US and 3rd of August in the UK. Teen Titans Go! To the Movies is based on the television series Teen Titans Go! and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It was written by series developers Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, and directed by series producer Peter Rida Michail and Horvath. The event of the movie takes place during the fifth season of Teen Titans Go!. It will be only the second theatrical film to be based on an animated Warner Bros. television series, 25 years after Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. The Teen Titans learn that almost every hero in the DC Universe has their own films, so they search for a director for their movie. But the director, Jade Wilson, later rejects their offer due to the fact the Titans can’t be taken seriously. However, they find a window of opportunity for their own movie by having their own nemesis, in the form of Slade. Greg Cipes as Beast Boy, Scott Menville as Robin, Khary Payton as Cyborg, Tara Strong as Raven, Hynden Walch as Starfire, Will Arnett as Slade, Kristen Bell as Jade Wilson, Nicolas Cage as Superman, Jimmy Kimmel as Batman, Kal-El Cage as a younger Bruce Wayne, Halsey as Wonder Woman, Lil Yachty as Green Lantern, David Kaye as the movie trailer announcer.

So this month, we remember and honor those whose lives were taken by domestic violence in Centre County. A traveling display, “An Empty Place at the Table,” based on the project created by the Women’s Resource Center in Scranton, will be at various places in Centre County throughout the month. The individual place settings around a dining table represent victims killed as a result of domestic violence in Centre County from 1998-2015. Behind each place setting is information, but no names out of respect for the families, of the victim. The display will be at the Super Fair of Centre County on Oct. 7, at the four YMCA’s of Centre County through October and at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on campus beginning Oct. 23. It is important to remember, to grieve and to resolve to act. That is what the pictures on my door remind me every day. They remind me that there are people behind the statistics, people whose lives were important to those around them, people who were loved, people who should not — ever — be forgotten even by those of us who did not know them. They are ours now, too.

I can’t remember if anyone onstage at Apple’s press event last week even mentioned the words “Apple TV.” It certainly didn’t announce any major news associated with it. But the product which Apple loves to tell us is a mere hobby is now a better buy. Apple has discontinued the 40GB model (the one I own) and cut the price for the much more capacious 160GB version from $329 down to $229, the price it had been charging for 40GB. Apple TV is a fun and well-designed product, but it hasn’t turned out to be an iPod-like transcendent hit. Then again, neither has anything else involving bringing the Internet into the living room. I find myself using Roku’s $99 box more than Apple TV, mostly because its Netflix Watch Instantly integration lets it provide all-you-can-view access to a ton of content for one low price. Other than video podcasts, most of Apple TV’s content is priced per title, making it impractical to gorge on movies and TVs as you can do with Roku. I wonder if Apple has ever considered offering some sort of Netflix-like subscription plan, at least for a subset of stuff? You nail it. When the iPod launched, lots of MP3 players were already being sold, and the shortcomings of these players were obvious to Apple. TV viewing habits and modalities are FAR more complex; I see NO companies “winning” this battle–yet. Not enough storage – The most basic Apple Laptops ship with a hard drive that same size. What are you smoking? How is 40 GiB enough for a typical music collection? How many people do you know who only own a hundred or so CDs/records? I have my music in shitting mp3 v0 and it still takes up over 300 GiB. Don’t get me started on movies. At about a gig a film, how is 40 GiB going to be enough for anyone? Apple has not yet announced any information regarding Apple TV. So it is better to avoid expectations about this Apple product, as it may too disappoint like the recent Apple event’s products. But sure it would provide a good entertainment. I’d love an AppleTV with more storage and that served iTunes files to other computers on the network (since our Mac Book Airs do everything we need except have space for all our music)! I’m surprised you think 40gb is adequate. We rented an HD movie from iTunes over the weekend: 4gb. Our music collection is over 100gb. Even 160gb simply isn’t enough storage at our house. But $229 sure is sweet. Would much rather have gotten closer to that price point than to the $800 we had to spring on a Mac Mini. Do game consoles come close to being able to serve the same functions, but to also play games, for a similar price? I’ve added ATV Flash, which enables the USB port for hubs, external drives or keyboards, as well as adding other features such as a browser, ssh and ftp access, etc. on mine. I had hoped to be able to stream from Apple TV to other computers in my home, so far this isn’t an option. Remote management from iTunes is kinda clunky. Since this connected to the home stereo, my music collection is sync’d as well, using the Apple remote application on the iPhone is awesome. The content from the iTunes store is very good, I have purchased a couple of TV show subscriptions, I wish they would had more of .99 rentals. I like my Apple TV. I think the update is nice enough, if rather tepid. I don’t use it much though. Most of the time when I look to see if a movie is available on it, it isn’t. And when I’m looking for a TV show, its more likely to be available on Hulu when I want to watch it (usually I just missed it) than on the Apple TV. I think Apple could make a bigger splash if they fixed either of these things–movies closer to DVD release, and some kind of support for flash video streaming sites. In the absence of some kind of update to add either one of these, I’ll probably move onto something else eventually. No idea what though. A STB offering Comcast’s TV Anywhere service?

The show opens with Nikki having a lunch date with Artem – to generate some headlines. Yes, apparently it’s important for her to be in a pretend relationship, which, again, since the show has wrapped she has already admitted wasn’t a relationship. The point of this is for Artem to teach the Mom how to dance… because apparently she can’t find a generic dance class for adults, and, yes, kids, those exist, they most definitely exist. Nikki’s ulterior motive is to train for the Women’s WWE PPV, which was in October. So, I guess the timeline skips around on this show, because Brie’s series of in-ring botches happened before that and we haven’t covered them yet. Yes, reality TV – highly edited and not very real. Five minutes in – Brie has said “comeback,” so, take a drink. Yes, the twins are training with Bryan for their umpteenth return to the ring. They’re backstage at an event and Brie is haranguing Bryan about remembering to post on Instagram, because social media is important or something. Mind you, I type that as someone who posts on Instagram daily, but, I’m the person who markets my own artwork since I don’t work for a major corporation. WWE does do the most effective marketing for their show and performers. Now, back to the ring where Brie and Bryan are facing Miz and Maryse. Yeah, that was like 15 seconds of footage. Nikki is going to train with Ronda Rousey. Ronda has dogs and goats. Female goats have udders. I guess that’s what we learned. Nikki and Ronda train… on a crash pad. Commercial. Nikki and Brie sit at a table at a restaurant and talk about getting in shape in order to return to the ring. I have no idea why I am supposed to care about Kathy learning a dance and doing a dance recital. Seriously, I saw the episode where she did the weather at a college TV station; I will never get that hour of my life back. Anyway, the narrative of this lunch is that people will think she’s in a relationship with Artem, which they supposedly don’t want, which is bullsh–. Because Nikki being linked with Artem raises her profile, not lowers it. How stupid is the audience of this show supposed to be? Oh f—, we have to redo this Artem conversation with the Mom. I am so not drawn into this fake storyline. Nikki is sick of being judged. There’s an antidote for that: it’s to stop being famous and live like a generic person who doesn’t post every aspect of their life on social media or be on a TV show. “I’m so sick of people telling me how to live?” I’m so not into this storyline. Also, Nikki just said “women empowerment” instead of women’s empowerment – which is the correct version. But seriously, as I type this in real time, I’m not drawn in to “Nikki is so judged for every little thing,” OMG! Now for a segment that you can find on YouTube. Some guy named Freddie, who is a brand manager, comes to show Bryan a bunch of products that he could have his name slapped on in order to MAKE MORE MONEY. Blind capitalism, people, blind capitalism. So, the guy brought mountain man clothes and beard care stuff. “I don’t wanna sell people stuff,” says Bryan. “I’m not interested in making beard oil to sell to other beardsmen so that they can put it in their beards.” Moving along, Nikki and the Mom train with some random guys named Paul and James. Honestly, having taken nine years of dance lessons as a child, I have no idea why they are dancing on what appears to be carpeting and not in front of mirrors – which is contrary to every dance studio ever; also the dude was wearing tennis shoes. Even kids wear dance shoes… but, hey, this is a TV show, not reality, and we’re supposed to be interested in this storyline, I guess. About 33 minutes into the show and Creepy Brother finally makes an appearance at some restaurant. Nikki is training with Ronda, so I guess Bryan will be offended? Yeah, we’re reaching to try to make anything on this show interesting. They’re backstage at Smackdown. Brief appearances by Jimmy Uso and Paige. Bryan is taking pics in his questionable Seattle Seahawks colors gear. Brie is still annoyed about Nikki training with Ronda and this pretend storyline about an affair with Artem. Bryan doesn’t think there’s an affair. Bryan’s music plays and Bryan has a match with Andrade, who still had a full name at the time. They show footage of cars. Brie and Bryan are in the car. Evidently she has a surprise. It is neither gelato or goat yoga. Fred, the brand manager, is about to make another appearance standing beside a table filled with potted cacti. Commercial. There’s a sign for “Bryan’s Hoes,” which would be made from reclaimed wood and recycled metal. Bryan thinks it’s funny. I have no idea who would buy these. Is gardening a big hobby for WWE fans? Apparently Brie is Bryan’s hummingbird, and Bryan is a tree. I dunno what the f— that’s supposed to mean since pretty much all hummingbirds are into flower nectar – which is generally not from flowering trees (which are seasonal) but rather plants and flowering vines. Yeah, I am a bird nerd. Anyway, on to this the Mom does a dance thing. Both Nikki and Kathy have sparkly dresses. Nikki’s is red, Kathy’s is fuchsia (which is a flower that hummingbirds are attracted to). So, on to the dance recital, which takes place on a stage somewhere in front of bleacher seats, so I’m guessing a theatre. The bit starts out with Nikki, then Kathy comes out at the end. Artem was not part of it; I assume it was Paul and what’s-his-face from earlier. “People crave authenticity, and you don’t get that that much anymore,” says Nikki of this weirdly fake storyline about how people will think that she is dating Artem – which, by the way, was the god damned teaser for the episode – because on their own, The Bella Twins aren’t exactly that interesting. Last segment starts with Raw. The Bella Twins are having their first official tag match back as a team – and not in mixed tags. Amazingly no one has said comeback yet. They chit-chat with Ronda backstage. Dramatic music plays and then the Bellas make their way to the ring where they will take on the Riott Squad. Brie does some “Yes Kicks” and then the botched dive out of the ring to Sarah Logan, and then five minutes (one minute as it’s edited on this show) later Brie dives out the ring and misses again. I remember this night because I was home and watched it and wondered why the heels in the match sold for the botched dives instead of improvising… you know, what the men would have done in the olden days. They downplay how much the audience was aghast at these botches. According to this show, the moral of the story is that Nikki and Brie should have trained together for this return. Yes, that’s how it was glossed over. Next week: there will be a Birdee Bee fashion show, Brie will botch in the ring again.

Altitude Film Sales has acquired international sales rights to “Calm With Horses.” The film is based on a Colin Barrett novella from the collection of short stories “Young Skins,” and will star Cosmo Jarvis (“Lady Macbeth”), Barry Keoghan (“Dunkirk”), and Niamh Algar (“Without Name”). Nick Rowland will helm the picture, which is set to shoot in Ireland. It is his feature directorial debut following “Slap,” his BAFTA and BIFA-nominated short film. Writer Joe Murtagh has adapted the screenplay having collaborated with Rowland since they studied together at the NFTS. The film is set in rural Ireland and follows an ex-boxer who has become an enforcer for a crime family. He is also trying to be a father to his autistic five-year-old son. His life reaches a turning point when he is asked to kill for the first time. Michael Fassbender, Conor McCaughan, and Daniel Emmerson’s DMC Film developed the project with Film4. Emmerson is producing and Fassbender and McCaughan will executive produce. Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe will exec produce for Element Pictures, Sam Lavender and Daniel Battsek for Film4, Celine Haddad for the Irish Film Board, and Sarah Dillon for the WRAP Fund.

A garage forecourt may seem an unlikely place to win a Britain In Bloom Neighbourhood Award. But PJS Garage of St Albans Road, Bulwell, has received a level-one certificate at Nottingham Council House in its first year of entering this high-profile event. Also known as ‘Bulwell Village’ Garage, the garden at PJS was described by judges as being ‘a true community project of the best sort, adding colour and greenery to a working garage forecourt’. Phil asked an old friend, and longstanding customer, Charles Towlson to tidy up a stretch of land on the site. Over the coming years the pair hope to give the forecourt the look of a 1950s garage. Phil confirmed that he already has plans for hanging baskets, planters and more colourful borders. The garage does MoTs, servicing and repairs. With Phil unavailable for the presentation ceremony last Friday, the award was received by Charles. Phil also provides annual sponsorship for the ‘Bulwell Village’ Open Golf Championships, which was founded in 2001 and is believed to be the longest-established domestic golf tournament in the UK.

And even throw in a performance too. The Strictly Come Dancing male winners have teamed up for a surprise reunion, joining forces for a special performance in honour of Sir Bruce Forsyth at the BAFTA TV Awards on Sunday (May 13). All day Sunday, former Strictly champions, pros and host Claudia Winkleman had been teasing that they had something special planned, with 2009 winner Harry Judd posting a picture of himself and some of his fellow winners, including 2016 and 2017 winners Ore Odube and Joe McFadden. "#baftas tonight ," Harry teased, while Joe later posted the same image and added the caption: "The Strictly winning boys rehearsing for the BAFTA Awards at the Festival Hall." So, what exactly were they rehearsing for? Well, that'd be this little dance number, with help from the reality show's dancing pros, including Karen Clifton, Kevin Clifton, Katya Jones, Neil Jones and Amy Dowden. Performing to 'One' from Broadway classic A Chorus Line, the performance provided a showcase for many of the series' former winners, with Love Island's Caroline Flack (and 2014 winner) joining them for the ending and later going over to greet 2007 winner, Britain's Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon, with a kiss on the cheek too. But the best surprise guest by far was none other than BAFTA TV Awards host Sue Perkins, showing off her best jive kicks right in the centre of the stage. Anyone else want to see Sue Perkins in Strictly Come Dancing for real now, or is it just us? The performance was scheduled to honour the memory of the late Bruce Forsyth, who hosted Strictly alongside Tess Daly for several years and died in August last year at the age of 89. Alongside that Strictly Come Dancing performance, the BAFTAs also surprised everyone by handing Cruising with Jane McDonald her and Channel 5's first ever BAFTA Award. Jane's surprise win comes alongside a number of BAFTA TV Awards snubs. Included among the shows that went home empty-handed were Black Mirror and Line of Duty, but at least it was a more successful night for shows such as Love Island and Peaky Blinders. The BAFTA TV Awards aired on BBC One on Sunday (May 13).

Two inner planets are notable this week as both Mercury and Venus change signs. Fast moving inner planets often help to trigger larger outer planets and frequently provide the spark for events. Mercury will be moving into Cancer on the 12 of June. In this placement, the planet of communication and ideas will enter into the watery realm of Cancer. Topics of home, security, nurturing and maternity are all likely under this influence. With Saturn in Capricorn, Mercury will be standing in direct opposition. We know that Saturn constraints and implores us to rise to the occasion no matter how difficult. Since we are in the midst of a fractious and uncertain time we might come to learn new information. While this combination can deliver a variety of outcomes, we might expect to be distrusting of news that we hear. In addition we might also feel uninspired and depressed as we see major institutions buckle and fall under the weight of a new regime. While together these two planets can work in a constructive manner it is more likely that a general malaise slips into our collective subconscious. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Expect to engage in conversations regarding your occupation. While this may be an attempt to provide insight you may find that you have more left to do before you can achieve stability. You may be quite passionate about how you move forward but choose carefully since the direction you choose may end up being irreversible. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You may find yourself in a standoff with a sibling this week over a shared responsibility. One of you may have to bend to appease the other and that could get a bit heated. A tendency towards reversals and aberrant behaviour could find you in a radically different place at the end than where you began. GEMINI (May 21-June 21): You may be involved in a rather sobering conversation regarding your finances this week. While the obstacles you face may be challenging consider how this influence might tempt you to take a new tact with regard to your spending habits. Make your decisions cautiously for the impact may be substantial and extend into the future. CANCER (June 22-July 22): Responsibility may be on your mind especially when it comes to a division of labor or duties with your significant partner or close friend. You may feel as if you have been shouldering too much of the heavy-lifting so to speak, and you might be tempted to vocalize your thoughts on that inequality. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A long-running project may be all consuming this week as a deadline approaches. Last minute adjustments and alterations may be necessary before you can successfully declare completion. While the extra effort may be burdensome at this point consider what the situation would look like if you hadn�t contributed the extra effort. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Conversations with business associates might be a little on the heavy side this week. You may be at odds with how to proceed on a collaborative project. With that in mind you may have to put more effort in than you had originally planned or be over-diligent with regard to details and facts surrounding the project. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Your primary homestead may be the source of your attention this week. Reconsiderations regarding your efforts there are likely to be a topic of discussion. Questions such as who�s turn is it? And how do we solve this problem are likely. While other family members might see things differently you may have to make the final decision. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Your curiosity may be piqued this week as documentation, legal drafts and other research materials draw your attention. Fortunately you are well-equipped to stray into this landscape and are eager to get to the bottom of details that may be in the way of a forward path. You might be well-served by doing some in depth research. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Financial matters may be dominating your week. Difficult discussions must be entertained in order to address the situation at hand. Financial institutions, insurance companies and the like are prime areas for your focus. Details may be important so bear that in mind and take good notes. You may be required to provide some background history. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You may be discussing shared responsibilities this week with your significant partner. There may be an imbalance between your individual contributions that needs to be addressed and set right. While that may find you with more duties than you bargained for, you might be wise to see that this is the best way to keep the peace. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): A decision may have to be made this week regarding a transition. You may be moving from one job to another, or, you might be looking at a major project, and so on. With all of that in mind you might be well-served by getting all the details you can before you opt out or in. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Business matters may be an important theme for you this week as collaborative creative projects bring you to a decision point. While you may be challenged by the facts and reality of the situation you may find that the best solution comes through the hard work of negotiation. Hone your powers of concentration and power through.

We’ve heard the first details of the new Pokemon Black and Pokemon White games, seen the screenshots, and now we can watch the first gameplay video. Revealed on Japanese Sunday morning kid’s show Pokemon Sunday, the video shows off just how different the game looks from previous outings. We aren’t complaining, and a noticeable graphical change to the series will probably come as a nice surprise to long time fans. Will Nintendo and Game Freak mess with the gameplay to the same extent? Very unlikely.

On Friday, BTS released the much-awaited music video for "Boy With Luv". "Boy With Luv" is the title track of their album Map of the Soul: Persona and parallels their 2014 song "Boy In Luv". The 2014 song was about young love and this new song is about how true strength and love come from finding joy in the smallest things in life. "Boy With Luv" features Halsey, who said she went to South Korea to work on it. The music video has inspiration from the classic movie musical Singing in the Rain. Since the release, BTS-related hashtags have been the only things trending worldwide on Twitter. YouTube was showing an error screen for some people trying to watch the video, while others said the video viewing figures were frozen at 493,000 views. BuzzFeed News has reached out to YouTube for comment. Whilst YouTube haven't confirmed the official figures yet, they have confirmed the video did become the mosts viewed. Yes, we're still running the numbers, but we can confirm that #BoyWithLuv (ft. @Halsey) is now *officially* the most-viewed 24 hour debut in @YouTube history!! Congratulations @bts_bighit 🎉 Enjoy @nbcsnl tonight! But by the time this post was published, the view count appeared to be working again and had topped 9.7 million views, with 3.1 million likes. The music video appears to have broken the record of most Youtube views within 24 hours with 78 million views. It was previously held by BlackPink's "Kill This Love" which got 56.7 million views and before that it was held by Ariana Grande's "thank u, next" which clocked up 55.4 million views in 24 hours. The record appears to have been broken by "Boy With Luv" within 16 hours. People think the video is adorable. Fans think it's the album of the year. The album Map of the Soul: Persona is also out today and has a total of seven songs. Track 4, "Make It Right", was written by Ed Sheeran and produced by Suga. The Ed Sheeran collaboration was previously teased by Suga in December. And fans had been hoping for a while to get BTS and Ed Sheeran to meet as they didn't get a chance to at the Billboard Music Awards in 2017. On Instagram, Ed Sheeran shared a screenshot of the track, which he said was the first K-pop song he'd worked on. "Check out the rest of the project too. Well done," he wrote. Watch the music video in full here and listen to the album on Spotify here.

"When you notice a fee increase, that should be an immediate alert to start shopping around and check the marketplace," said Richard Barrington, banking analyst for MoneyRates.com. "Don't assume the same things are going on everywhere." But when shopping around, remember that a great yield and zero fees don't always come hand in hand, so you first have to figure out what is more important to you. If you have a large amount of money to deposit -- say, over $10,000 -- you should typically look for a bank with a high interest rate rather than focus on the monthly fees, Barrington recommended. That's because the interest you make would likely offset the fees. But if you're just starting to save and don't have a lot of money to put into an account, you should find a bank that offers free checking -- which all eight of these banks have.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen breaks down complicated health choices and confusing medical questions into fun and informative graphics that lead you to the answers you need. Allergist Dr. Dean C. Mitchell, a clinical assistant professor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York, contributed to this chart. This flowchart series is designed to help educate people about medical issues so they make better informed decisions about their health. Please consult a doctor for any serious symptoms or for conditions specific to your personal health.

The tragic death of Trayvon Martin and the hoodie issue makes one think how a piece of clothing can lead to such a tragedy. While the hoodie never started out to mean something criminal, it has developed to just that. A television commercial shows an individual walking into a bank wearing a hoodie, taking it down and attempting to steal someone's identity. One sees photos of bank suspects wearing hoodies to hide their profiles. One sees young gang members standing on corners wearing hoodies, flashing gang signs and selling drugs. Having these pictures implanted into one's mind makes one suspicious of any young person with a hoodie up and head down. How not to develop this stereotype is hard to answer. Maybe if we see our children or ourselves wearing hoodies, we can realize that everyone who wears them is not out to commit a crime. I read "On mothers who bury their sons" (Perspective, March 25). I am in total understanding and compassion for all the mothers who have borne and lost sons named Trayvon or another name. Sixteen years ago I lost my son in a car accident; 38 years ago my mother lost her son, my brother, to cancer. Life goes on, tomorrows are forever changed and the void is unending. Reading the poignant words of author Michele Weldon and viewing the photo of Michelangelo's Pieta at St. Peter's Basilica remind me of two passions: the joy of reading the written word and the reason why people of the Christian world celebrate Easter, the resurrection. Kudos to the Tribune's David Haugh for his perceptive column "NU sticks with the program; By retaining Carmody, Cats stay true to mission" ("In the Wake of the News," Sports, March 25). After quoting Education Secretary Arne Duncan as saying, "When athletic programs have their priorities in order, there's no better way to teach invaluable life lessons than on the playing field or the court," Haugh writes: "The implication (from Duncan's comments) was that, more than ever at the start of what many educators hope is an NCAA revolution, athletic departments will be forced to decide what they want to be." Most college and university officials currently supporting big-time football and men's basketball programs will likely decide to continue to seek fame and fortune via their professionalized sports entertainment businesses. As a consequence, America's future prospects as a global leader will not be as bright as could be. Why not? Here's a clue to one of the reasons: It's the fact that Northwestern would have so little competition getting to a hypothetical Academic Final Four of schools that actually demonstrate rather than proclaim prioritization of academics over athletics. A March 25 letter to the editor said, "The biggest problem with speed cameras near schools and parks: The cameras don't know if children are playing on the street or if there's no child anywhere within miles." You still get a ticket. Well neither does a driver know if a child will dart out in a street after a ball or not. Slow down. While walking to my neighborhood school on a recent spring day, I noticed that the crosswalk lines on the potholed street were worn to black and the traffic signs were obscured by the budding trees. If Mayor Rahm Emanuel really cared about the safety of our children — and the city budget — he would take care of the basics. Perhaps none of his friends trims trees or paints lines for profit. I think having a driver who is a nervous wreck from always worrying if he is in or approaching a school/park zone is more detrimental to the children than anything else. Eyes are not on the road; they are on the side of the road more often than they should be, on the lookout for signs and times. One can get a taste of what's to come when approaching the cameras that exist on corners already. Even safe drivers can get caught in that one-tenth of a second or one-tenth of an inch it takes to get a ticket. It's the anxiety and distraction that will cause the casualties.

Have other people minimized, shamed, or invalidated your feelings? Having your feelings diminished, ignored, or rejected is a painful experience for all of us – but even more so if you’re a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) or survivor of abuse or other trauma. It’s important to have a sense of belonging and to be a part of a group — a family or community. And part of belonging to any group is to be known, understood, and accepted. But while it’s normal to want to be understood, we can’t depend on others to validate who we are, what we believe in, and how we feel. When we do, we compromise pieces of who we are in order to fit in and let others determine our self-worth. Your feelings matter. Emotions serve an important purpose and shouldn’t be ignored. For example, feeling angry, afraid, or sad tells you that something’s wrong. You don’t want to miss these crucial pieces of information because they can help you to take care of yourself and make decisions to keep safe. Feelings aren’t right or wrong. They are a reflection of your thoughts, experiences, and perceptions, which is why two people can have the same experience, but feel differently about it. It’s also important to note that validation – saying that someone’s feelings are acceptable or worthwhile – isn’t the same as agreeing with their feelings. We can certainly feel differently but make the effort to try to understand and empathize with our loved one’s feelings. Sometimes emotional invalidation is done accidentally by someone who is well-meaning but has a low emotional intelligence or simply isn’t paying attention to your feelings. A common form of invalidation is when someone tries to cheer you up when you’re sad because they feel uncomfortable with your feelings. This can be invalidating because your feelings are being dismissed when someone wants to change your feelings rather than accept them or understand them. Other times, emotional invalidation is a form of manipulation and an attempt to make you question your emotions and experiences. A pattern of invalidation is a form of emotional abuse or gaslighting. It’s a denial of you or your experience. It implies that you’re wrong, overreacting, or lying. Abusers do this to turn things around and blame the victim, and deny or minimize their abusive words or actions. The most common forms of invalidation include blaming, judging, denying, and minimizing your feelings or experiences. Invalidation isn’t just disagreeing, it says: I don’t care about your feelings. Your feelings don’t matter. Your feelings are wrong. Invalidation can also be non-verbal: rolling your eyes, ignoring, playing on your phone or another distraction, leaving the room. When your feelings are minimized or denied, it’s natural to want to defend yourself or to strike back and emotionally wound the perpetrator. This is understandable but rarely helpful. In fact, the perpetrator is often looking to put you on the defensive and draw you into a non-productive argument that further distracts you from the real issues. Are you close to this person? Has this person been interested in understanding your feelings in the past? Is it a good use of your time and energy to help them understand your feelings? Does this person have a habit of invalidating your feelings? How have they responded in the past when you’ve pointed it out? Sometimes, it’s not worth trying to get a stranger or even an acquaintance to understand your feelings. Generally, the closer the relationship you have with someone, the more important it is for them to understand your feelings. However, you have to be realistic about other people’s capabilities to do so. If this person repeatedly invalidates your feelings and isn’t interested or motivated to change, you need to take steps to distance yourself and take care of your own feelings. You may want to calmly and without blame state that you feel invalidated. This acknowledges that you’ve been hurt and gives the other person the opportunity to make it right. The key, again, is not to get drawn into a debate about who is right or wrong, but to set a boundary that states how you want to be treated and to leave the situation if your needs aren’t respected. If you have a friend or family member who occasionally invalidates your feelings and is open and receptive to learning how to be more empathetic, you can show them this short video from Brené Brown about empathy and you can practice communicating your feelings using “I” statements. You can find more details about how to share your feelings in this article. It’s important to form relationships with people who love and respect you, who care about your feelings and want to understand who you are and how you feel. It’s also important for you to care about, understand, and validate your own feelings. As you know, we can run into emotional problems and become victims when we rely too heavily on external validation. I wrote the following affirmation to help you validate your own feelings. I respect and honor myself when I pay attention to and accept my feelings. I will try to slow down and make time to notice my feelings. I know that my feelings matter and I will value the truth and wisdom they contain. Others may try to invalidate my experiences and feelings, but I will hold onto my truth. I can hold onto my truth and also remain open to other people’s perspectives as long as there is mutual respect. I’m learning to distinguish between people who invalidate and disrespect me and those who are curious and interested but have different experiences and feelings than my own. I can choose not to spend time with people who continue to invalidate my experiences and feelings. I will choose to surround myself with people who support my healing and growth, who push me to be a better person, and who leave me feeling better about myself — not worse. I can validate my feelings by reminding myself that all feelings are acceptable and have a purpose; my feelings matter and they aren’t wrong. I will validate my feelings by making them a priority. I will give them time and space to exist. I will be curious about them and seek to understand them better, rather than judging them or pushing them away. I know my feelings matter so I will practice accepting them. I will give myself compassion in the face of difficult emotions. I will listen to my feelings and use them as a guide to help me take better care of myself. I will hold onto my truth and validate my own feelings. Many people get stuck because they think they need their loved ones to validate their feelings. To have a satisfying relationship with someone, you need them to understand you. However, you don’t need other people to tell you your feelings are acceptable. The important thing is that you know your feelings are valid regardless of what others think. You are the only one who can validate your feelings and deem them acceptable and legitimate; no one can do it for you and external validation doesn’t mean anything until you can validate your own feelings. Photo by henri meilhac on Unsplash.

Ever See a Dolphin Eat a Shark? A group of marine biologists recently lucked into filming—possibly for the first time—a pod of killer whales trapping and eating a tiger shark near Costa Rica. Researchers have known for years that whales have the ability to study their prey and formulate specific attack plans, but video of the underwater assaults is rare, if not nonexistent. So a diving team was thrilled when they chanced on to a pod of killer whales living up to their names. According to Barcroft TV, Caroline Power and Nicholas Bach were on a diving trip following the pod when a tiger shark made the grave error of swimming by. The dolphins apparently forced the shark to the surface, flipped it over, and then went to town on it. The divers apparently ended up opting for the safety of the boat, so the video isn't perfect, but there's enough on the tape to make you seriously reconsider ever jumping in the ocean again.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe holds presidential and parliamentary elections on Monday in which the top two contenders, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, have promised to revive an economy ruined under Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule. * Zimbabwe has 5.7 million registered voters who are expected to cast their ballots at 10,985 polling stations dotted around the southern African nation. * Voters directly elect a president, 210 members of parliament and more than 9,000 councillors. Sixty women will be appointed through proportional representation to the House of Assembly while 60 people will be appointed in the upper Senate chamber via the same system. * Voting starts at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and ends at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT). Vote tallying and counting starts immediately after the close of polls and results for council, parliament and president are posted outside each polling station. * The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will announce winners for parliament in their constituencies, while results for president will be announced at the commission’s headquarters in Harare within five days of voting. * A presidential candidate requires 50 percent plus one vote for an outright win. If no candidate gets that, a runoff will be held on Sept. 8 between the top two contestants.

New Canadian take the oath of citizenship at a ceremony in Dartmouth, NS, on Tuesday, October 14, 2014. Immigration Minister John McCallum may have gone into an appearance before a House of Commons committee on Tuesday expecting to be grilled on changes to the law that would restore Canadian citizenship to convicted terrorists, but what he faced instead were pointed questions about language requirements. One of the lesser-known aspects of the government’s Bill C-6 is the narrowing of the age range for new citizens who are required to demonstrate proficiency in English or French. Currently, that range is 14 to 64, a widened span that was introduced under the Harper government. The Liberals are now moving to revert back to the old age range of 18 to 54, meaning anyone older or younger than that will no longer need to prove adequate knowledge of one of the country’s official languages. According to committee member and Conservative MP Michelle Rempel, that was a policy decision the Liberals made without any data to back it up. Rempel asked McCallum on Tuesday morning if there had been any research or consultation to prove that narrowing the age range was a better option than simply providing more language training. McCallum acknowledged that there hadn’t been, but argued that the government is already investing many millions into language training programs. “It sounds like a political decision rather than a quantifiable decision,” Rempel replied. Her caucus colleague David Tilson agreed, saying he is particularly worried about new citizens aged 55 to 64 who may still be able to work, but will have no English or French. The narrowing of the age range will result in a dropping of the language requirement for about 16 per cent of new citizens, according to department officials who testified alongside the minister. McCallum said he is not particularly concerned for the younger cohort that will see the removal of the language test (ages 14 to 17). “There are a myriad of reasons why an average 16-year-old would find it advantageous to learn English or French,” he said. As for the older cohort, McCallum said history has proven they will adapt and contribute to society with or without English or French. Rempel asked if the government would amend Bill C-6 or delay the change until more research is done. Her question was not directly answered. McCallum was eventually asked by the committee members about the most controversial aspect of the bill: a provision that would restore the citizenship of convicted terrorists who had lost it under changes made by the Conservative government. McCallum reiterated that the Liberals do not believe that there should be “different classes of Canadians,” and that it is a matter of principle. The mastermind of the Toronto 18 terror plot, Zakaria Amara, will see his citizenship restored under C-6 as soon as it passes in the House and receives royal assent. Conservative MP Bob Saroya said that the fact that the government in Jordan, where Amara was born, doesn’t want him on their soil should tell McCallum everything he needs to know about the man. “A terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist,” Saroya said, borrowing from the phrase often used by the Liberals to defend their stance: A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.

July 29, 2015 bnblogs, deals, featured, Lifestyles, movies, newsfeed, pulsefeed. Next month in Stuart, you can see three for free. That’s when the Lyric Theatre will screen a trio of classic movies — and Treasure Coast Newspapers and Stuart couple Michael and Marie Braid will pick up the tickets for everybody. “To Kill a Mockingbird:” Aug. 1-2, showtimes at 4 p.m. You’ve read “Go Set a Watchman” — or at least heard the buzz around Harper Lee’s long-delayed sequel to her 1960 debut — now revisit the award-winning 1962 movie version of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” There is no perfect father in film history than Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch. “Guys and Dolls” screening and talkback with John Loesser: Aug. 8-9, screenings at 4 p.m. “Woodstock” screening and talkback with Woodstock photographer Barry Z. Levine and Woodstock author Linanne G. Sackett: Aug. 15-16, with the movie starting at 3 p.m. On the 46th anniversary of the muddy music festival in upstate New York, the Lyric screens the three-hour, Oscar-winning concert film. “Woodstock”‘s still photographer, Barry Z. Levine, and his writer wife, Liananne G. Sackett, will talk about the greatest concert event of their generation. Seating for each film is first-come, first-serve, and tickets can only be secured by visiting the Lyric box office, which is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and two hours before each screening. The Lyric is at 59 SW Flagler Ave. in downtown Stuart. For more information or to check on ticket availability, call 772-286-7827.

"We're fighting for our right to go to school and get home to our parents at the end of the day" A teenager from Coventry is meeting with Florida State law makers to propose emergency gun laws after hiding in a cupboard to survive a high school shooting last week. Lewis Mizen, 17, moved to Florida from Coventry with his family three years ago. He has been one of the leaders of a high-profile campaign by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School against US gun laws in the days since the attack. Here, in his own words, he tells ITV News Central what happened on the the day his friends were killed and how he's now trying to make sure it doesn't happen again.

• It is indeed a great honor and tremendous privilege to be opening this very monumental UNWTO international tourism conference, which is the first of its kind in the Caribbean. • Billed – “Building Private-Public Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism for Development – this conference welcomes global policymakers and leaders in tourism from over 157 countries, several international agencies of the United Nations as well as large delegation of local stakeholders to the beautiful city of Montego Bay for three days of fruitful engagement and discussion about the future of global tourism. o Donor-funded projects that balance scale, sustainability and inclusion. • At the end of this conference, I am very optimistic that we will be able to craft a global agenda that seeks to design collaborative approaches to mitigate shared tourism risks and strengthen resilience as well as build consensus around the strategies necessary to further position global tourism as a catalyst for promoting inclusive economic growth, sustainable livelihoods, environmental sustainability and social development. • I note that a conference of this nature and magnitude is very fitting and is indeed a timely response to some of the emergent issues that are posing a serious threat to the sustainability of the tourism product in the Caribbean and other tourism-dependent regions across the world. • The United Nations 70th General Assembly designated 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development with the hope that this would present a unique opportunity to raise awareness of the contribution of sustainable tourism to development among public and private sector decision-makers and the public, while mobilizing all stakeholders to work together to make tourism a catalyst for positive change. • The International Year also seeks to support a change in policies, business practices and consumer behavior towards a more sustainable tourism sector that can contribute to the attainment of the Universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). So you can see, this conference fits perfectly within the global focus on sustainable tourism. • The question of sustainability is an even more urgent concern for tourism-dependent small island dependent states, like those in the Caribbean, that face disproportionately greater risks due to their sizes, geographical location and lack of economic diversification. • The Caribbean remains the most tourism-dependent region in the world. Tourism is the single largest generator of foreign exchange in 16 of the 28 countries in the Caribbean and also the sector receiving the most FDI. The region has a higher proportion of total employment and percentage of GDP derived from tourism than any other region in the world. • Despite this, however, Caribbean countries face a greater degree of vulnerability to the worst effects of major environment disasters, particularly climate change, a phenomenon to which they have contributed the least. • Already, this year the resilience of the tourism sector in the region has been tested with the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which affected 13 of the most tourism-dependent countries in the region including: St. Martin, Anguilla, Dominica, Barbuda, St. Barts, the British Virgin Islands, the US Virgin Islands, Turks & Caicos, the Dominica Republic and Puerto Rico. • Some territories have suffered almost total devastation or over 90 % damage to their infrastructure from these hurricanes and it will take many years and substantive investments to bounce back. • However, if there is one thing I know about my Caribbean brothers and sisters, it is that they are very resilient people and the region’s propensity to bounce back from unpredictable events and soar to greater heights has been tried tested and proven. Importantly despite the challenges, I am happy to report that the Caribbean is still open for business. • Despite the multi-faceted challenges confronting the region, Caribbean tourism continues to grow at record pace. The tourism sector in the region was able to overcome early projections of downturn in global tourism receipts for 2016 – amid volatility and uncertainty in main source markets such as the USA and parts of Europe owing to Brexit, the US Presidential Elections, and terror attacks in Brussels and in other European cities – to grow at an unprecedented rate of 4.2% in 2016. • The region welcomed a historic 29 million visitors in 2016, over 1 million more visitors than in 2015. Tourism growth in the region outpaced the global average of 3.9 %. The data for 2016 also indicate that cruise tourism in the region is booming as cruise passenger arrivals grew by an estimated 1.3 per cent, to approximately 26.3 million in 2016. • For the first six months of 2017, data compiled by the Caribbean Tourism Organization show that the region welcomed 16.6 million international tourists or 800,000 more than in the first six months of 2016, constituting a growth rate of 5.2 %. • So far, Jamaica’s tourism performance for 2017 has been no less impressive than that of the wider region. We are already on track to surpass last year’s historic growth rate of 4 % or 3.84 million visitors in total. We welcomed over 3.3 million visitors in the first 9 months of 2017 and we expect total arrivals to surpass 4 million by the first week of December. • Gross foreign exchange earnings for the first 10 months of the year were US$2.34 billion, which is a 10.8 per cent increase over the corresponding period in 2016. • We remain firmly committed and convicted that our tourism industry is on the right track and that we will achieve our growth target of “5 in 5” or 5 percent annual growth rate in five years. • Although the Caribbean is open for business it cannot be business as usual in the Caribbean. While the tourism sector in the region has traditionally been very resilient and remains one of the most valuable contributors to job creation, poverty alleviation, investments, export revenues, GDP and to the economic livelihoods of millions of citizens , its gentle balance can be easily disturbed by a wide range of risks and threats. These include, global economic recessions, global food shortages, an oil crisis, political instability in major source markets, terrorist attacks, environmental disasters and pandemics and epidemics, just to name a few. • As we have seen recently with the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, it just takes one powerful disaster to devastate whole national economies. Thus, we can never become complacent. • We have to reassess our existing strategies for managing risks and challenges, incorporate new approaches and harness new opportunities for growth and expansion in our tourism sector. • Indeed, the sustainability and resilience of our tourism sector is hinged upon us being forward-thinking, proactive, collaborative, multi-faceted and innovative in our approaches to tourism development in the region. • I will thus use the next several minutes to discuss some of the priority areas that must be attended to if the Caribbean region is to seriously pursue sustainable tourism in the coming years. • Here in Jamaica , my ministry has already established its “Five Pillars of Growth”, which encompasses five critical areas that we will be prioritizing over the next several years to expand the capacity of tourism to contribute to sustain economic growth, sustainable livelihoods and human development in Jamaica. o The renewal of human capital. • The growth agenda for the Caribbean tourism sector must be people-centered and aligned with broader national economic and social imperatives. It is important that Caribbean states understand that sustainable tourism must mean inclusive growth that will expand economic benefits to local populations; in the process helping to move people’s lives from poverty to prosperity. • The tourism sector must not only generate prosperity and wealth for large hotel owners and service providers but will also help to preserve the natural and cultural resources of the islands; strengthen linkages with other sectors of the economy, particularly the agricultural and manufacturing sectors; strengthen the benefits derived from the industry by local residents and communities; and promote broader participation by all Caribbean nationals. • Caribbean governments are encouraged to make community tourism a priority area of sustainable tourism. Jamaica’s National Community Tourism Policy and Strategy, for example, envisions an invigorated tourism sector in communities that enriches quality of life through social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits, exemplifies sustainable livelihoods, and strengthens Jamaica’s national policy values and interests. Our community tourism initiatives aim to ensure that tourism enterprises return economic, cultural, social and environment benefits to the communities in which they operate. • Those of you attending Thursday’s three technical tours will get to experience first-hand some of Jamaica’s inclusive community tourism attractions – the Rasta Indigenous Village, Cockpit Country Adventure Tours and Bunkers Hill Cultural X-perience & River Tour. • We have also established our Tourism Linkages Network, which has a mandate of promoting sustainable tourism development in Jamaica by developing and strengthening sustainable linkages between the tourism sector and other productive sectors of the economy — such as agriculture, manufacturing and the creative industries, including entertainment. • Our Tourism Linkages Council is made up of public and private sector partners who oversee the coordination and implementation of effective and sustainable strategies, which strengthen and facilitate linkages. • If Caribbean tourism intends to be globally competitive we must find ways to unlock new sources of competitiveness. One approach would be to diversify our offerings to attract new markets. International travellers have become far more demanding and have higher expectations of the destinations to which they travel or intend to travel. • Other means of enhancing the competitiveness of the region’s tourism sector would be for us to enter into discussions with several airlines and tour companies to discuss the way forward in terms of possibly introducing new locations to their Caribbean itineraries. • We must also aggressively target promising markets in South America, Europe, Asia and even promote more seriously the idea of intra-regional tourism. We must also target our vibrant Caribbean Diasporas that are spread across major source markets such as Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom to encourage expatriates to return home more often. • It has already been recognized that the future fortunes of Caribbean tourism may lie in economic convergence between complimentary economies. Considering this fact, we need to look into the feasibility of multi-destination arrangements that that will increase intra-regional tourist flows and promote mutual benefits for more destinations in the region. • The countries of the north-western and south-eastern Caribbean are well positioned to embrace this new architecture as their geographic alignments are clear and are all within an hour-and-a-half by air or sea from each other, making it easy for island-hopping and experiential enrichment for the visitor. • In establishing multi-destination critical mass will be created for large investments in hotels, infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing. Furthermore, small and medium-sized businesses will enter the market providing more goods and services, employing more people and provide value added goods and services to the economy. This will be a win-win for all. • For our part we continue to aggressively pursuing a multi-destination marketing arrangement with Cuba, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. • As we explore opportunities in multi-destination tourism, we must also seek regional cooperation in related areas such as aviation and airlift strategies to move seamlessly within the region, visa facilitation and access to each other’s destinations, as well as pre-clearance arrangements. • This also has significant implications for marketing, which could help position the Caribbean as a powerful holiday destination. • Moving forward we must also recognize the importance of workforce development in the tourism sector. • Tourism remains one of the country’s most labour intensive sectors and capacity-building and the welfare of tourism workers is critical to the region’s ability to promote sustainable tourism development. • We must commit ourselves to the constant training and retraining of our tourism workers; to engendering collegial relationships between staff and management and to providing for the welfare development of tourism workers through initiatives aimed at ensuring they have access to scholarships, internships, insurance coverage and home-owning opportunities. • This is important in ensuring that they are able to continue to deliver quality service, which is the hallmark of any globally-competitive tourism product. To promote workforce development, my ministry has already established A Pension Scheme for Tourism Workers and we intend to develop solutions that will allow hotel workers to access affording housing opportunities. SUPPORT FOR MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES. • The overwhelming success of region’s tourism product has largely been as a result of the synergies and symbiotic relationships that have traditionally existed between the hotels and other linked sectors and enterprises, which have all played a major role in guaranteeing the totality of the local tourist experience. • Indeed, tourism is nothing without the vast network of micro, small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (MSMTEs) that contribute significantly to the authenticity and quality of the tourism experience; enhance destination competitiveness, contribute to enhanced brand image and that help to forge positive local networks and enhance productivity. We must continue to protect and deepen these synergies to ensure that more local businesses can continue to benefit from tourism. • We must reaffirm our commitment to supporting initiatives that will help to showcase the talent, products and services of our local producers as well as provide training and assistance in areas such as provision of training and technical assistance in areas such as: marketing, business administration, product development, skills development and ICT use for artisans and community-based enterprises. • On the supply side, we must keep abreast with the current digital trends. We must recognize that ICTs have tremendous potential to enhance competitiveness, strengthen our tourism brand and grow our market shares. As such it is in our best interest to promote ICT diffusion in the tourism sector. The survival of our tourism sector may very well depend on it. • The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) 2015, which measures the set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable development of the Travel & Tourism sector, concludes that countries performing more strongly on the TTCI are those that are better prepared to capture the opportunities of new trends: the differing preferences of a new generation of younger travelers; and the growing importance of online services and marketing, especially through mobile internet. • Tourism is an information intensive sector and ICT’s are a key driver for developing countries in organizing and marketing their tourism products. • Adopting ICT innovations will help to mitigate tourism leakage by ensuring that local businesses, operators and purveyors of tourism products and services are better able to enhance their own capacities to create new knowledge and information-intensive businesses and thus seize commercial opportunities that are usually outsourced to foreign markets, depriving the Caribbean countries of valuable earnings. • Tourism players who understand the potential of knowledge and Information innovations to not only deliver more premium tourism products and services but to also better market their own businesses will outcome those who continue tom rely on traditional modalities. • We must be taken off guard here in the region. Before it is too late, we must recognize that the future of tourism-related data collection and management, planning, marketing, mapping, exchanges and transactions, market analysis, product development, diversification and value-added services is linked to the adoption and exploitation of ICT capabilities such as big data, big data analytical, machine learning, blockchain technologies, The Internet of Things and robotic). • We must begin to manipulate these ICTs platforms to reinforce the resilience of our tourism product. • ICT diffusion in the tourism sector is also aligned with promoting smart tourism destinations which can be defined as those destinations that exploit real-time data, integrate and share data, and using complex analytics, modeling, optimization and visualization to make better operational decisions. • Smart tourist destinations will also use technologies (such as sensors and other IOT platforms) innovatively to achieve improved security and traffic monitoring, resource optimization, participatory governance, sustainability and improved quality of life. • Unfortunately, none of the initiatives that I have just described will be able to realize their transformational effects if the region does not address its most pressing and immediate threats to sustainable tourism development. • More than any other time in our past, tourism authorities in the region must now seriously address the issue of disaster risk management and mitigation. It is clear that in recent years the region’s tourism sector has become increasingly vulnerable to both natural disasters and external shocks, particularly climate change, which can now be reasonably described as an existential threat to our tourism sector. • The time has come for us to urgently respond to and strengthen our resilience against threats such as natural disasters, climate change, pandemics and epidemics, terrorism, cyber attacks. We need to enhance our regional capacity to manage range of chronic transnational challenges that can be destabilizing to our tourism sectors. • Aspects of this approach could involve developing a framework of indicators to measure resilience; promoting innovation systems for climate adaptation and resilience; fostering deepened knowledge of cyberspace policy, promoting counter-terrorism studies, developing urban resilience and building meaningful partnerships. • Meaningful risk management strategies for the region must focus on priority areas and outcomes such as Collaborations, information-sharing, collective action, capacity-building, resource allocation and funding, public education, planning and management of projects, behavioral modifications, monitoring and evaluation, environmental conservation, alternative and renewable energy and the adoption of green practices in the tourism sector. • In closing, as I open this very important conference which joins key tourism principals from all across the world together, the message is SUSTAINABILITY and we must use this opportunity to push a global sustainability agenda that will ensure the survival and resilience of the tourism sector upon which billions of people across the world depend on, directly and indirectly, for their sustenance and livelihoods. • In addressing shared risks and threats, insularity and narrow-self interest must be replaced by fruitful engagements and collaborations which seek to develop cross-cutting solutions and unite tourism players under a common mission, which is to save a sector that is so dear to all of us. What is Airbus and Boeing doing to stop Chinese rivals?

"Dont let us think that Nigerians are not aware of the existence of FOI law. Mark my…" Musiliu Adewale Lawal replied Nov 18, 2011 to THE INFORMATION BILL. "My friend i understand ur fears.May God help us. " Musiliu Adewale Lawal replied Nov 18, 2011 to Roli Geeorge, wife of ex-Convict Bode George appointed to Board? "It is not proper to rate a student b4 a test. Siasia failed right but Keshi has just…" Musiliu Adewale Lawal replied Nov 18, 2011 to KESHI VS SIASIA. "Akin u know a person of that status nd importance should b a role model, of exemplar…" "Bode nd his wife are two different individuals.If there is any other reason why she…"

Many of you are likely familiar with the case of the American student from Berkley back in April of 2008 who when he was taken into custody by Egyptian police managed to send out a short tweet via SMS saying "Arrested." Subsequently his embassy and the press were notified and he was eventually released (see CNN story) thanks to his twitter distress call. Amoiist's real name is Guo Bofeng or Peter Guo, a professional translator lives in Xiamen city, Fujian Province. His regular blog is amoiist.com. Recently he has uploaded the interview of Yan Xiaoling's mother who explained that her daughter was under threat by local triad and local authorities' attempt in covering up the issue. Last night, Mawei police contact Guo's supervisor and told he that Guo was under criminal detention. Many reporters had called up the police station to have fact check on the 6 arrest cases but the police replied: reporters don't have the rights to fact check this case! Guo twitter friends continue to update the news via twitter search: @amoiist and #amoiist. What makes Peter's case unfortunate is that his arrest is not yet drawing any attention in the foreign media, and as a result there is no pressure for Chinese authorities to release him. We'll have to wait and see how this plays out. New technology and social media tools are indeed empowering Chinese citizens to speak out where they didn't dare speak out before. But the question remains, is it empowering enough? Update: Looks like the Guardian is the first to run this story. Good to see somebody is taking notice. What's In The Easter Bunny's Basket For 2011?

Last week, a Florida manatee predicted the Denver Broncos will win Super Bowl XLVIII. This week, a prognosticating Utah primate has called the game for the Seattle Seahawks. Eli, who lives at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, makes these forecasts by running into a papier mâché helmet emblazoned with the insignia of one of the two teams. Erica Hansen, one of the zoo employees, told Yahoo that this year Eli made his pick “without any hesitation.” It’s not clear how Eli’s powers as a sports oracle were first brought to the attention of the zoo, but the primate has been making the right calls since 2007. Following his selection, Eli and his family smashed up and ate the papier mâché helmets of both teams.

Two explosions shook the city of Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, where many of the kingdom's Shi'ite Muslim minority live, and witnesses said body parts could be seen in the area of the blast. Two explosions shook the city of Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, where many of the kingdom’s Shi’ite Muslim minority live, and witnesses said body parts could be seen in the area of the blast. A witness said one explosion destroyed a car parked near a mosque, followed by another explosion just before 7 p.m. local time. Body parts could be seen and they are believed to be that of an attacker, the witness added. Photographs purporting to be of the incident published on Twitter showed a severed leg and crowds gathered outside a mosque at dusk. Some posts said the explosion was caused by a suicide attacker setting off a bomb. The incident happened just hours after a suicide bomber was killed and two people were wounded in a blast near the U.S. consulate in the kingdom’s second city of Jeddah on Monday. It was the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom. There was no immedaite claim of responsibility for the Jeddah attack. Islamic State has carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shi’ite Muslim minority and security services. 11: 48 pm: At least three people were killed in the blast outside the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina in Saudi Arabia on Monday, including a suicide bomber and two security officers, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television reported. 11:10 pm: A resident in the largely Shiite eastern Saudi Arabian region of Qatif says a suicide bomber and a car bomb have struck a neighborhood there, but that no injuries were immediately reported. Mohammed al-Nimr told The Associated Press the bomber detonated his suicide vest Monday evening when most residents of the neighborhood were at home breaking the Ramadan fast. Qatif is heavily populated by Shiites, who are a minority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. Al-Nimr says that near the body of a suicide bomber was a car bomb that also went off around the same time. The attacks struck next to a Shiite mosque. The Islamic State group has in the past attacked Shiite places of worship in Qatif. 11: 00 pm: Blast occurred in the Red Sea city of Jeddah near the US consulate and in Shiite-dominated Qatif on the other side of the country.

A Step for Press Freedom in Russia? Not only is Medvedev's interview an important step for "Novaya," but it may also tell us something significant about Russia's still-new President Medvedev. But for that we probably need to wait for more evidence. The interview was not completely unexpected. When I was in Moscow last month, my husband Stephen Cohen and I spent an afternoon at the newspaper's offices, talking to Muratov--a tenacious, spirited and brave editor--who we first met in a Moscow basement cafeteria in 1993. Not only is Medvedev’s interview an important step for “Novaya,” but it may also tell us something significant about Russia’s still-new President Medvedev. But for that we probably need to wait for more evidence. The interview was not completely unexpected. When I was in Moscow last month, my husband Stephen Cohen and I spent an afternoon at the newspaper’s offices, talking to Muratov–a tenacious, spirited and brave editor–who we first met in a Moscow basement cafeteria in 1993. In our talks, he told us that the possibility of an interview with Medvedev had arisen in January, after the murder of yet another “Novaya” journalist by neo-Nazi extremists. A few days after the killing, Muratov and Gorbachev received an unexpected invitation to meet with Medvedev in the Kremlin. The President not only extended his sympathy to the paper and the journalist’s family–in distinct contrast to former President Putin’s words and actions after the assassination of “Novaya” reporter Anna Politkovskaya–but Medvedev also spoke of the importance of upholding laws to end neo-Nazi gang violence. These were heartening words for Muratov–as was Medvedev’s talk of doing an interview with the newspaper after his return from the G-20 meetings. Also important was the President’s public statement that while he disagreed with the paper’s stance on most issues, he believed it was a “nuzhnaya gazeta.” (Translation–a needed newspaper.) For Muratov and his team, these words suggested a new level of protection for a paper which has published against great odds and paid a heavy price for its crusading investigations into high-level corruption, human rights violations, brutality in Chechnya and abuses of power. Several of its most courageous reporters –Igor Domnikov, Yuri Shchekochikhin and Anna Politkovskaya–have been murdered for their unflinching investigations. So, for all who care about a free press, it’s worth paying attention to the Russian President’s decision to give his first print interview to a paper which has survived and thrived as an independent and oppositionist force. And may Medvedev and the Russian government also work to see that the journalists’ killers be brought to justice.

Phil Rudd of AC/DC. One day after being charged in a murder-for-hire plot, the main charge has been withdrawn. One day after AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was arrested for allegedly attempting to procure the murders of two men, the main murder-for-hire charge has been dropped. Greg Hollister-Jones – the Crown Solicitor of Tauranga, New Zealand, where Rudd was arrested – made the decision to withdraw the charge due to “insufficient evidence.” A press release from Hollister-Jones’ office, which advises the Tauranga government on legal affairs and would have been prosecuting the drummer, said that it had informed Rudd’s lawyers and police of his decision. The High Court will not be trying Rudd on this charge, though a spokesperson for the Tauranga Crown Solicitor’s office confirmed to Rolling Stone that Rudd still faces charges of threatening to kill and possession of methamphetamine and cannabis. Rudd was facing up to 10 years in prison had he been found guilty of the charge. A representative for AC/DC was not immediately available for comment. Rudd was arrested Thursday morning for allegedly trying to have two as-yet-unidentified men killed in late September. He was also charged with possession of methamphetamine and cannabis, following a raid on his home, as well as threatening to kill. The drummer appeared in court Thursday afternoon and was released on bail. Mabey said that Rudd intends to defend himself against these charges and that the ones for “personal possession of drugs are minor.” Still, Rudd could still face up to seven years in prison on the charge of threatening to kill. The 60-year-old was a member of AC/DC from 1975 through 1983 and rejoined the group permanently in 1994. AC/DC have been prepping for the release of their upcoming record, Rock or Bust, and had announced the intention of launching a world tour in 2015. The group released a statement about Rudd’s arrest on Thursday, telling Rolling Stone, “Phil’s absence will not affect the release of our new album Rock or Bust and upcoming tour next year,” it said. Rock or Bust is the band’s first album in six years and its first ever without founding rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, who bowed out of the band earlier this year due to dementia. His nephew, Stevie Young, played on the record in his stead. The band debuted the first song off the album, “Play Ball,” in October.

Loves Miley Cyrus and Mexican food — but what he really wants is a gal who can give a good massage. Fancy feet: Juan is originally from Brazil and still roots for its national soccer team. Flick fest: When he first moved to New York City three years ago, his favorite cinema to visit was the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Twerk it out: Juan claims he can imitate Miley Cyrus’ signature dance move. Not funny: His biggest fear is clowns. Celebrity twin: TV host Jimmy Kimmel is Juan’s A-list doppelganger. She is: A fun girl. “I like high-fives and narrating what I am doing through song,” says Katie. She likes: A guy who is inked up — “I have four tattoos and am attracted to guys who have them too,” she notes. Kids stuff: Katie has an extensive Disney DVD collection. She is: Musical and hospitable. “I make great mixtapes and I love to cook,” says Lisa. She likes: A guy who can roll his sleeves up. “I’m a forearms girl,” Lisa explains. Petting zoo: Lisa owns four cats and would like to get a dog. She is: Open-minded. “Dating is an exercise in meeting people halfway,” says Melissa. She likes: A confident guy. “Bravado — for better or worse — is a turn on for me,” she explains. On her bookshelf: Melissa recently read “White Girls” by Hilton Als. Hats off: Melissa doesn’t find fedoras flattering.

Although labeled a trend, BYOD is poised to have a lasting impact on practices in virtually every industry and business function. Organisations that proactively establish BYOD policies, and harness the inherent advantages of BYOD to improve their workforce management processes, stand to gain a significant competitive edge. This paper explores the BYOD trend, examines its intersections with workforce management, and provides recommendations on how organisations can maximise the return on their workforce management investments and practices in an increasingly mobile environment.